Public Perceptions on Breastfeeding Constraints

To describe public perceptions on breastfeeding constraints, the authors studied the responses of 2369 US adults who participated in the Healthstyles 2000 national mail survey (response rate = 75%). Among them, 2351 answered at least 1 of the 12 breastfeeding items. Public perceptions were positive for 8 of the 12 items. Among the other 4, however, almost half of US adults (45%) agreed that a breastfeeding mother has to give up too many lifestyle habits, 31% thought that babies ought to be fed cereal or baby food by age 3 months, 31% said that 1-year-olds should not be breastfed, and 27% considered breastfeeding in public embarrassing. The results revealed more negative perceptions among non-whites, people under 30 or above 65 years, and those who had low income and less education. To promote and support breastfeeding in society as a whole, these messages need to be considered in planning and implementing breastfeeding interventions.