Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 60. No. 4., 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2021.60.04.02
Effects of a Breastfeeding Educational Intervention on Secondary School Students after 6 Months
Marija Čatipović
orcid.org/0000-0003-4352-6419
; Marija Čatipović Specialist Pediatric Dispensary, Bjelovar, Croatia
Martina Marković
; Feniks Institute for Health Care, Bjelovar, Croatia
Josip Grgurić
; UNICEF Office for Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Breastfeeding attitudes are already being formed in the years of preadolescenceadolescence,
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.
Keywords
Breastfeeding education; School
Hrčak ID:
275427
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2021.
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