Mothers’ Knowledge and Behaviours Regarding the Use of Probiotic Supplements for Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate mothers’ knowledge and behaviours regarding the use of probiotic supplements for their children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 392 mothers of children aged 0-6 years who were hospitalized in the pediatric ward of an obstetrics and gynecology hospital in the Western Black Sea region of Türkiye. Data were collected by the researchers using a “Data Collection Form”. Results: Of these, 52.0% were high school graduates and had an income equal to their expenses. The study included mothers with a mean age of 32.28±3.10 years (range: 22-47). The children of the parents included in the study had a mean age of 4.55±2.20 years (range: 0-6), with 65.8% being females. 67.3% of the mothers exclusively breastfed their children for the first six months, and 70.7% introduced supplementary food in the 6th month. Additionally, 75.8% of the mothers were using probiotic supplements. Mothers primarily used probiotic supplements for their children based on doctor recommendations (32.0%), to strengthen the immune system (28.9%), and to improve digestive health (22.8%). The main reasons for using probiotic supplements were to alleviate symptoms such as diarrhoea (37.2%) and gas/bloating (31.9%). 72.2% of the mothers reported improvement in their children’s health after using probiotics. The most commonly improved conditions were diarrhoea (38.1%) and gas/ bloating (30.0%). Additionally, 71.7% of the mothers who were satisfied with the probiotics recommended them to their relatives. In addition to supplementary probiotics, 76.3% of the mothers also gave probiotics as food to their children. Yoghurt (34.8%) and kefir (24.8%) were the most frequently given probiotic foods. 93.4% of the mothers had information about probiotics, with the majority (52.6%) obtaining this information from their doctor. Conclusion: Mothers demonstrated a high level of knowledge regarding supplemental probiotics. The fact that they obtained this information from a doctor indicates rational use. Keywords: Child health, probiotic, mother, knowledge, behaviour