Infant Feeding Practices and the Factors that Influence Feeding Practices among Women in Seoul and the Chungbuk Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

In order to obtain baseline data for the development of an educational program on breastfeeding, a survey was carried out to investigate infant feeding practices, the characteristics the subjects have in common, and the factors that influence the feeding methods among women in Seoul and the Chungbuk area. Subjects included 671 lactating mothers who visited public health centers or pediatric clinics between December 1999 and February 2000, and were interviewed using a questionnaire. The results were as follows : With respect to feeding methods, the incidence of breastfeeding, formula feeding, mixed feeding and formula feeding switched from breastfeeding was 20.6%, 29.8%, 11.6%, and 38.0%, respectively. With respect to the characteristics the subjects had in common, the incidence of women who planned their infants' feeding methods before pregnancy, during pregancy, and after delivery was 48.7%, 31.0%, and 20.3%, respectively. The incidence of women who started breastfeeding in the hospital after delivery was 38.8%. About seventy seven percet of the subjects had not previously attended an educational program on breastfeeding, and most of these wanted to participate in the future in an educational program to learn about breastfeeding. Some of the topics they were interested in were 'Nutritional Management for Sufficient Breast Milk' (60.3%), "Breast Care" (25.0%), and "Correct Nursing Positions" (9.8%). Most (88.2%) of the women who breastfeed suffered from physical discomforts including discomfort of the waist, and legs and discomfort due to cracked or sore nipples. "Insufficient breast milk" was the main reason for breastfeeding cessation or for switching to formula feeding. With respect to formula feeding practices, the main reasons for selecting a specific brand of formula were "the same brand the hospital used after delivery" (34.3%) and "an advertised brand" (23.3%). The strongest factor for promoting breastfeeding was "the support of husband or parents", next were "breastfeeding in the hospital after delivery" and "planning to breastfeed before pregnancy" in that order. The characteristics the subjects had in common relating to formula feeding were "mother's job", "high economic level", "Caesarian section" and "planning to breastfeed after delivery". In conclusion, it is recommended that breastfeeding be pro-moted, and educational programs be developed and offered as soon as possible to each group which had unfavorable attitudes toward breastfeeding. In addition, the monitoring and supervision of formula advertisements is required to protect consumers from the adverse effects of exaggerated advertising.

A Study on Supplements Use in the Middle-Aged and Elderly / 대한지역사회영양학회지

In order to investigate the current status of supplements use in the elderly during the last one year, a nationwide survey was conducted in metropolitan areas(6 cities) and middle-sized cities(8 cities). The subjects were 2188(male 765, female 1423) non-institutionalized adults and elderly people aged 50 and over, and information was collected by in-person interviews. Prevalence of supplements use and different types of supplements taken by subjects were examined using SPSS statistical package. Different category of supplements was used by 30.2% of the subjects. On the average, the subjects consumed at least one kind of supplements. Chinese medicine was the most commonly used supplements in both male and female subjects. Among the reasons for using supplements, health promotion ranked the highest, however, most supplement users did not know(35.3%) or knew roughly(48.9%) about the health claims of their supplements. Subjects reported the information source for supplements as family, friends or relatives(43.6%) followed by TV and radio(23.3%). Chinese medicine was most commonly used supplement in male subjects who have chronic diseases(40.7%), and vitamin and mineral supplements were most commonly used by female subjects who have chronic diseases(39.0%). Therefore, these results may provide basic information on different category of supplements used by the middle-aged and elderly,