Peer-reviewed article
Adolescents' interest in breastfeeding practices: using school-based education to promote future DOHaD-related parenting in Africa.
Hawawu Hussein, Andrew Matchado, Olufunke Florence Ajeigbe, Phdelia Theresa Doegah, Twaambo Euphemia Hamoonga et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tested whether teaching adolescents about breastfeeding benefits in high schools across five African countries would change their knowledge and attitudes. Researchers surveyed 345 students (average age 18) before and after an in-class presentation on parenting and breastfeeding. The education session successfully changed what students thought was important about breastfeeding, with notable differences between girls and boys in what they found most relevant. The findings suggest school-based education can influence adolescents' future parenting practices.
Key points
- School-based education sessions on breastfeeding impacted adolescents' perceptions of parenting
- Boys were more interested in the cost-benefit aspect (no formula costs for fathers) and potential healthcare cost savings from reduced diabetes
- Girls ranked practical benefits higher, including babies crying less, easier nighttime feeding, and less unpleasant diaper changes
- Gender-related differences exist in how adolescents view the relevance of breastfeeding information
- Adolescents had low baseline awareness of the importance of the first 1000 days of life
Limitations
The document does not describe the specific content of the presentation, the comparison group structure (if any), follow-up timeframes to measure persistence of attitude change, or whether changed attitudes translated into actual breastfeeding practices later. The study measures only immediate post-intervention perceptions rather than long-term behavioral outcomes.
Abstract
Breastfeeding is a critical component of infant nutrition, and breastfed infants are less likely to become stunted or obese reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases in adult life. Optimal breastfeeding practices remain a challenge worldwide; as adolescents are the mothers and fathers of tomorrow, integrating DOHaD-informed knowledge into school curricula is called for. However, research indicates adolescents have low awareness of the importance of the first 1000 days of life, only see specific elements as relevant to them, and gender-related differences exist in their comprehension. This study evaluated the impact on adolescents of an in-class presentation on parenting and the benefits of breastfeeding in high schools in 5 African countries. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were completed by 345 pupils (182 girls, 163 boys, mean age 17.9 years). Analysis indicated the education session impacted pupils' perceptions of parenting and changed which aspects of breastfeeding they viewed as most and least interesting. A statistically significant difference was evident between genders on the importance of cost-benefits; more boys saw relevance for fathers that no cost is incurred for formula. Boys also ranked the potential to reduce diabetes healthcare costs in adult life higher than girls. Girls preferentially ranked breastfed babies crying less, being easier to feed at night, and diaper changing being less gross as benefits for fathers. School-based education can engage adolescents and impact knowledge and attitudes about breastfeeding. Awareness of differences in girls' and boys' perceptions of relevance will enable educational content to be targeted to attract and inform both genders.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- In-class educational presentation on parenting and the benefits of breastfeeding delivered to high school students
- Population