Breastfeeding Perceptions and Attitudes: The Effect of Race/Ethnicity And Cultural Background

Breastfeeding has been generating a lot of publicity in the past years largely due to new legislation promoting breastfeeding -friendly policies. However, the United States is far below many developed nations in regards to its populations’ breastfeeding prevalence and despite the unprecedented benefits of breastfeeding being documented, many are not breastfeeding. Breastfeeding in the U.S. varies dramatically by race, with individuals identifying as Black or African American breastfeeding much less at 6 months postpartum than Asian or Pacific Islander, White, or Hispanic. Overall, Individuals identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander have a higher breastfeeding rate 6 months postpartum with Hispanics coming in second. This study uses survey data to analyze the impact of race/ethnicity and cultural background on college students’ attitudes towards breastfeeding. This study found that respondents identifying as Hispanic had a more positive attitude towards breastfeeding than any other race or ethnicity. Also, respondents having at least one parent born outside of the United States had a more positive perception of breastfeeding than those who had parents born in the United States. These findings suggest that there are some cultural and racial influences on one’s perception and attitudes as it pertains to breastfeeding