Effects of a Breastfeeding Educational Intervention on Secondary School Students after 6 Months

Abstract

SUMMARY Breastfeeding attitudes are already being formed in the years of preadolescence-adolescence, which means that the educational program should be focused on this age group. For this purpose, many authors suggest that school should be used as an established educational institution and therefore they are developing different education programs. The authors offered an educational program adapted to the cultural, sociological, legal, health, and other specificities of the community to which the students belong. A questionnaire on breastfeeding intentions and knowledge was used to measure the long-term effects of education (after 6 months) in 155 students. They were divided into two groups: experimental (n=101, Grammar School students) and control (n=54, Bjelovar High School students) groups. The experimental group underwent breastfeeding education program, while control group did not. The study was approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, and co-operation with schools was approved by the School Ethics Committees. Six months after educational intervention, students in the experimental group had significantly improved their breastfeeding intentions and knowledge compared to baseline measurement (before intervention). However, 6 months after the education, their knowledge and intentions were less positive than shortly after education, as described in a previous report. The authors suggest that a team of experts be gathered to design a structured educational program that would be interesting to secondary school students. This program should also be adapted to students’ age and interest.

Providing education from adolescence to promote exclusive breastfeeding: a retrospective study

“…Moreover, physical and social problems are not only identi ed early but also managed in time before breastfeeding. (30,31) Providing education during adolescence may provide support to breastfeeding mothers. The WHO reported that every year, 21 million adolescents aged 15-19 years become pregnant in low-income countries, and approximately 12 million have had babies.…”

Behavior, attitudes and knowledge of healthcare workers about breastfeeding

“…Više radova je analiziralo edukativne programe o dojenju koji se primjenjuju u srednjim školama (6,7), veleučilištima (8) i fakultetima (9) zdravstvenih smjerova u Hrvatskoj. Analizirana je i učinkovitost primijenjene edukacije (10)(11)(12). Rezultati istraživanja potvrđuju da pozitivan učinak imaju samo programi edukacija o dojenju koji se provode strukturirano, kontinuirano i koordinirano, što je sukladno ranijim radovima drugih autora (13).…”

Osvrt na radionicu „Kvaliteta zdravstvene zaštite majki i novorođenčadi: Prevođenje istraživanja u političke inicijative u europskoj regiji SZO“ – hrvatska iskustva

“…Josipom Grgurićem podržali su ova istraživanja. Rezultati su potvrdili da ponuđeni program rezultira pozitivnim promjenama znanja, stavova i namjera učenika o dojenju u statistički značajnoj mjeri u trajanju najmanje šest mjeseci po završetku programa (14)(15)(16).…”