The Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding / 대한지역사회영양학회지

To compare the costs incurred by infant feeding between mothers who breastfed their infants and those who fed them infant formula, a questionnaire survey was carried out to 136 mothers living in Seoul, Cheongju and Chungju who breastfed and 199 mothers who formula-fed their infants. The cost of formula-feeding was estimated based on the expenditures for formula and feeding apparatus, and the time needed to wash bottles and prepare formula. The cost of breastfeeding was estimated based on the expenditures for food for the additional nutritional intake of these mothers. The mean cost of formula-feeding was 1,870,125won during the first year of the baby's life. The food cost for the additional nutritional intake of the breastfeeding mothers was 203,004 won per year. The extra medical cost for respiratory illnesses in the formula-fed group compared to the breastfed group was 62,920 won because the formula-fed infants required medical attention for respiratory illnesses more often than the breast-fed infants. Therefore, breastfeeding could save 1,730,041 won during the first year of an infant's life. We may have underestimated the cost savings from breastfeeding because we did not take into account the potentially decreased costs of fertility control and the health benefits for mothers, as well as the decreased usage of water and gas. Analyses showed that breastfeeding is not only nutritionally advantageous, but also economically advantageous for families and society.

Prenatal Breastfeeding Education and Infant Feeding Practices in Public Health Centers and Baby-Friendly Hospitals / 대한지역사회영양학회지

Although breastfeeding is recognized to be vital to the health and well-being of children and women, the rate of breastsfeeding among Korean women has continuously decreased. One barrier to breastfeeding has been identified to be associated with health care providers. Health care professionals do not give sufficient advice and encouragement, next do hospitals provide supportive environments for breastfeeding by separating infants from mothers or providing formula. The purpose of this study was to investigate prenatal breastfeeding education and infant feeding practices in public health centers and baby-friendly hospitals. A telephone survey was carried out on 57 public health centers located in the Seoul and Chungcheong areas and 13 baby-freindly hospitals from February to April in 2000. Among the public health centers, 43.8% offered periodic prenatal education for pregnant women who visited the centers. Most of them used leaflets or pamphlets developed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare or UNICEF. Twenty six percent of the public health centers developed their own educational materials. All of the 13 baby-friendly hospitals gave additional fluids to infants, did not allow mothers and infants to stay together 24 hours a day, and did not foster the establishment of breatfeeding support groups among the mothers. Most of the baby-friendly hospitals gave artificial teats, did not help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth. Findings indicate that current practices even in the baby-friendly hospitals are not consistent with the '10 steps to success breastfeeding'. Therefore, deliberate efforts should be made to incorporate adequate breastfeeding education into prenatal program in both public health centers and hospitals, and create environments to support breastfeeding in hospitals, even in baby-friendly hospitals.

Criteria for the websites in Korean with health information on the Internet / 대한의료정보학회지

Web sites on the internet are excellent information resources for the public consumers to gain health care knowledge. The potential benefits of the Internet health information are obvious. But the health information on the Internet could also result in potentially negative effects on the public consumers. Yet the quality of health information on the Internet is variable and difficult to assess. There is no rating criteria for quality assessment of the health information in the Web sites in Korean. 47 rating criteria for quality assessment of internet health information were selected and identified in this study. The 17 items were categorized to Reliability(5 items), Content( 7 items), Goal(2 items), Design and Technology(3 items). This 17-terms questionnaires is considered as commonly implementable criteria for health information in the Web sites in Korean. The consistency of the resulting criteria had been ensured by 4-professionals.