Background: Over the past 2 decades, southern states in the United States have recorded the lowest breastfeeding rates. It is not known whether awareness of breastfeeding laws and provision of resources play any role in their breastfeeding practices. Research aims: The aims were (a) to describe awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions by students and employees of institutions of higher learning in the state of Georgia, (b) to describe awareness by race and ethnicity, and (c) to determine factors associated with awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions among students and employees within Georgia institutions of higher learning. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of students (n = 1,923) and employees (n = 1,311) associated with five institutions within the University System of Georgia (N = 3,271) was completed. Convenience sampling was used. Data were collected through Qualtrics. Chi-square test was used to examine differences between groups, while logistic regression was used to examine associations. Results: Participants included 33.3% undergraduate, 26.2% graduate students, 24.6% staff, 14.2% faculty, and 1.7% administrators. Over two thirds were female and white. Almost one third reported having a child or children. Awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions was very low among respondents, with 26.6 and 9.6% aware of federal and state provisions, respectively. While less than 10% were familiar with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative program, 52.6% reported their institution provides a supportive environment for breastfeeding. Being a student and being a minority were negatively associated with awareness of laws and provisions that support breastfeeding. Conclusion: The need for focused efforts on increasing awareness of legislative and institutional provisions and support for breastfeeding exists.
Results: Seven themes regarding misconception about child feeding practices emerged from the data. These included: a fat baby is a healthy baby; the baby is big because of genetics; cereal in the bottle helps the child sleep; a crying baby is a hungry baby; breast milk is not enough; juice is good for babies and children; and children need to drink a lot of milk. Conclusions and Implications: Future nutrition education delivered to NJ WIC participants should offer content that considers invalid beliefs. Also, these findings should be replicated and explored in other locations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.