BACKGROUND. A lack of research exists regarding the attitudes, knowledge, exposure, and intentions of dietitians toward breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antecedents of behavioral intention toward providing breastfeeding support in dietetic interns and to evaluate breastfeeding attitudes of internship directors.
METHODS. A cross-sectional survey of dietetic interns and internship directors was completed using an online questionnaire composed of previously validated instruments for breastfeeding knowledge, exposure, and infant feeding attitude. For recruitment, the 239 internship directors were emailed to request their participation in the online survey and to forward the survey to their interns.
RESULTS. A total of 119 (49.8%) directors and 440 interns participated in the study. Both interns and directors had positive breastfeeding attitudes, 70.9 ± 6.9 and 69.7 ± 8.2, respectively, (85-point scale) with no difference between groups (p = 0.1268). Interns showed strong breastfeeding knowledge and favorable intentions toward breastfeeding with scores of 11.7 ± 1.6 (14-point scale) and 49.0 ± 10.2 (60-point scale), respectively. High exposure to breastfeeding was found in 96% of interns. Attitude (r = 0.396, p <0.0001), knowledge (r = 0.265, p <0.0001), parental status (r = 0.176, p = 0.0002), and internship type (r = 0.176, p = 0.0030) had significant linear relationships with professional intention. Internship type was a significant factor (r = 0.230, p < 0.0001) associated with attitude; those in a health department or community program had highest attitude scores (76.4 ± 5.1). More interns, 92.2%, agreed that it is important to include breastfeeding training in the internship, than directors, 78.6% (p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSION. This study suggests that dietetic interns, the future registered dietitians of this country, are thoroughly prepared to promote and support breastfeeding in their future practice; their high professional intentions, positive attitudes to toward breastfeeding, high breastfeeding knowledge, and high previous exposure to breastfeeding support this conclusion. Dietetic internship directors have similar positive attitude toward breastfeeding, and report that their internship program provides sufficient resources to prepare dietetic interns for future promotion and support of breastfeeding.