Breastfeeding knowledge and health behavior among Mayan women in rural Guatemala.
Soc Sci Med
; 242: 112565, 2019 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31627080
Guatemala has the fourth highest infant mortality rate in Latin America, which makes the support and protection of breastfeeding especially critical. Traditional health-promoting practices like breastfeeding may be protected by increasing knowledge of its benefits. Yet there is a dearth of research documenting breastfeeding knowledge (i.e., knowledge of its benefits for infant health and development) in communities where breastfeeding is already practiced. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess degree of breastfeeding knowledge among Mayan mothers in the rural highlands of North-Western Guatemala and compare knowledge of breastfeeding - a practice promoted by local health centers - and other traditional yet non-promoted infant care practices. METHOD: We conducted a survey of maternal-infant health knowledge and behavior among mothers in rural Guatemala (N = 300) from six communities with a non-governmental organization (NGO) health program and one comparison community. RESULTS: Overall, mothers displayed more knowledge of the benefits of breastfeeding in comparison with other traditional infant care practices not promoted by a community health program. Mothers in communities with a health program demonstrated increased knowledge of breastfeeding, regardless of whether they personally participated in the program. This health knowledge predicted participation in novel health-promoting behaviors (family planning, prenatal care, exclusive breastfeeding). CONCLUSIONS: Understanding breastfeeding knowledge as a proxy for community health exposure may increase the efficacy and diffusion of community health messaging.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
População Rural
/
Aleitamento Materno
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Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde
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Mães
Tipo de estudo:
Qualitative_research
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Newborn
/
Pregnancy
País/Região como assunto:
America central
/
Guatemala
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Soc Sci Med
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Reino Unido