Perceptions of adults in selected family health centers in Samsun Çarşamba District towards breast milk: A regional study

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the educational needs of not only the mothers but also the whole society about breast milk and breastfeeding. Methods: The study was conducted in three family health centers at similar socio-economic levels between March and June 2015. The sample of the study consist of 1750 adult individuals. The research data were collected by a questionnaire and a 5-point Likert scale titled “Perception Scale of Adults About Breast Milk” prepared by the researchers in line with the literature. Kruskal - Wallis H Test and Mann - Whitney U Test was used in the evaluation. Results: It was determined that the total score average of the adults participating in the study was 120.94 ± 16.74. According to the results of the total score averages obtained from the "Perception Scale of Adults About Breast Milk" and the age variable; The scores in the 33-39 age group were significantly higher than the scores in the 19-25, 26-32 and 47-53 age groups. Conclusions: It was concluded that the scores obtained by the participants from scale were above the average, but their perceptions about breast milk should be improved.