Padmanabhan Ramya, Thulasingam Mahalakshmy, Chinnakalai Palnivel
Intern, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute , Puducherry, India .
Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research , Puducherry, India .
J Clin Diagn Res. 2016 Nov;10(11):LC11-LC14. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2016/20675.8904. Epub 2016 Nov 1.
Breastfeeding is important for promoting child's health. Since, breastfeeding decisions are made before pregnancy and are strongly influenced by women's knowledge and attitude, it is important to identify knowledge gaps in youth girls.
To assess the knowledge, attitude and future intention regarding infant feeding among female college students in Puducherry, India.
This descriptive study was done among 307 college going female students. Their knowledge, attitude and future intention was assessed using structured questions and Likert's scale. Data were summarized as percentages with 95% confidence interval. Responses to Likert's scale were analyzed using consensus index.
Around 98% (95% CI: 96.5%, 99.6%) and 86.3% (95% CI: 82.5%, 90.2%) knew that breast milk and colostrum respectively is good for the child. However, students had poor knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding, the age of starting supplementation, recommended duration of breastfeeding. Noteworthy, 15% and 38% of them thought that breastfeeding spoils the mother's beauty and interferes with mother's employment respectively. Around 98% (95% CI: 97.0%, 100.0%) wanted to breastfeed their child in future. A high proportion of students, 20.5% (95% CI: 16.0%, 25.0%) wanted to give formula feed before 6 months. Knowledge and future intention to breastfeed was better among 'arts and science' students than engineering students.
The knowledge and attitude of female college students on breastfeeding is good. Almost all students wanted to breastfeed their children in future. However, the study has identified knowledge gaps and misconceptions which need to be stressed during the health education activity to promote optimal breastfeeding practices.
母乳喂养对促进儿童健康很重要。由于母乳喂养的决定是在怀孕前做出的，并且受到女性知识和态度的强烈影响，因此识别年轻女孩的知识差距很重要。
评估印度本地治里女大学生关于婴儿喂养的知识、态度和未来意向。
这项描述性研究在307名在读女大学生中进行。使用结构化问题和李克特量表评估她们的知识、态度和未来意向。数据以百分比和95%置信区间进行汇总。对李克特量表的回答使用共识指数进行分析。
约98%（95%置信区间：96.5%，99.6%）和86.3%（95%置信区间：82.5%，90.2%）的学生分别知道母乳和初乳对孩子有益。然而，学生们对纯母乳喂养、开始添加辅食的年龄、推荐的母乳喂养持续时间了解不足。值得注意的是，分别有15%和38%的学生认为母乳喂养会损害母亲的美貌并影响母亲的工作。约98%（95%置信区间：97.0%，100.0%）的学生希望未来母乳喂养自己的孩子。很大一部分学生，20.5%（95%置信区间：16.0%，25.0%）想在6个月前进行配方奶喂养。“文科和理科”专业的学生在母乳喂养知识和未来意向方面比工科学生更好。
女大学生对母乳喂养的知识和态度良好。几乎所有学生都希望未来母乳喂养自己的孩子。然而，该研究发现了一些知识差距和误解，在健康教育活动中需要强调这些以促进最佳母乳喂养实践。
