Evaluation of University Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Breast Milk and Infant Feeding

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization plans to increase the frequency of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life from 37.0% to 50.0% worldwide by 2025. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of university students about breast milk and breastfeeding.
METHODS: The study was conducted with 1177 participants at Selcuk University in the 2022–2023 academic year. In this descriptive study, data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire that included a breastfeeding process and sociodemographic characteristics form, as well as the infant feeding attitude scale (IOWA) Infant Feeding Attitudes Scale.
RESULTS: The mean IOWA score of female participants was higher than that of their male counterparts (p<0.001). The proportion of participants studying in the health area was higher compared to those studying in non-health areas (p<0.001). Students from the Faculties of Medicine and Nursing-Midwifery more frequently reported that breastfeeding should be initiated within 1 h after both vaginal and cesarean deliveries compared to students from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (all p<0.001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In this study, the knowledge and attitude levels of students studying in the field of health were found to be higher than those of students studying in non-health fields. Training on breast milk and breastfeeding should be expanded to include students from other departments and from the health field.

Keywords: Attitudes, breastfeeding, health knowledge, infant nutrition, students