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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Marie Tarrant, RN MPH PhD, Department of Nursing Studies, University of Hong Kong, 4/F, William M. W. Mong Block, Faculty of Medicine, 21 Sassoon Rd., Hong Kong, 00000, Hong Kong, +852 2819 2643, tarrantm@hku.hk, Tung Yuen Cheung, RN MN, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and Joan E. Dodgson, RN MPH PhD, School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, University of Hawaii, 2528 McCarthy Mall, Webster Hall Rm. 327, Honolulu, HI 96822.

Although breastmilk is the most natural and nutritious food for infants, breastfeeding rates are still low in Hong Kong. As future parents, university students' knowledge and attitudes toward infant feeding will greatly impact future breastfeeding trends in Hong Kong. A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Hong Kong university students (N=240) toward infant feeding, their future infant feeding intentions, and the relationship between their knowledge and attitudes toward infant feeding and prior breastfeeding exposures. Participants were predominantly young (86.3% < 24 years of age), unmarried (99.5%) undergraduate students (90.7%), all of whom were ethnic Chinese without children. Infant feeding knowledge was generally good but there were misconceptions about key aspects, specifically that breastfeeding was painful, required the mother to avoid many foods, and offered only moderate health benefits over infant formula. While the majority of participants (71.3%) expressed intention to have their future children breastfed, negative attitudes persisted. The majority of participants believed that breastfeeding and infant formula were equally beneficial to infants. Furthermore, participants perceived breastfeeding as inconvenient, limiting the freedom of the mother and embarrassing in public. Participants with a higher number of prior breastfeeding exposures had better knowledge and attitudes. This is the first study doing in Hong Kong to assess the knowledge and attitudes of university students toward breastfeeding. The results provide information to health care providers on the planning of effective breastfeeding promotion programs.

Learning Objectives:

• To identify the knowledge and attitudes of Hong Kong university students toward infant feeding.
• To identify factors that may be used by public health professionals to improve breastfeeding rates in Hong Kong.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 557.3 kb)