As práticas alimentares da criança menor de um ano trazem inúmeras particularidades que transcendem o biológico e, portanto requerem ser analisadas nas dimensões culturais, psicológicas, sociais e econômicas. Desta forma, buscou-se compreender quais as representações sociais das mulheres/mães sobre as práticas alimentares das crianças menores de um ano. Tratase de uma pesquisa qualitativa, desenvolvida com 15 mulheres/mães de crianças menores de um ano e usuárias de um serviço da rede básica de saúde de Ribeirão Preto-SP. A coleta de dados foi através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas gravadas e transcritas na íntegra e registros de imagens do contexto social da alimentação da criança, fotografadas pelas mães. A coleta se deu após o consentimento livre e esclarecido, no domicílio dos sujeitos. O conteúdo foi categorizado com base na técnica de análise de conteúdo, modalidade temática, e as fotografias possibilitaram uma análise complementar. À luz das representações sociais na perspectiva socioantropológica, analisou-se como as mulheres, enquanto agentes do cuidado infantil, em especial da alimentação do filho, atuam nas diversas dimensões do \"espaço social alimentar\". Depreenderam-se quatro categorias temáticas: 1) O contexto de construção das práticas da alimentação infantil: a alimentação da família; 2) A alimentação da criança no primeiro ano de vida; 3) Pessoas tidas como referência para as práticas alimentares infantis e 4) A alimentação e a saúde da criança. A alimentação é a primeira socialização dos indivíduos, e a família é tradicionalmente o lócus no qual a aprendizagem social se dá, tendo os pais, particularmente as mães, a função de primeiros educadores alimentares. As mães fornecem os sentidos e ideologias que sustentam e determinam as decisões alimentares, desde o primeiro alimento recebido, o leite materno, até a introdução à comida da família. O comportamento alimentar da criança está delimitado por condicionantes fisiológicos, como as alternâncias de sensação de fome e saciedade, parâmetros esses manifestados pelas crianças, que guiam as condutas maternas na oferta do peito ao filho e na avaliação de sua capacidade como nutriz, evidenciando a necessidade de introduzir outro leite. Na alimentação complementar, o aspecto socioeconômico tem peso determinante na seleção dos alimentos, assim como o valor do alimento que deve ter vitaminas e que sustente a criança. A aceitação da comida, avaliada com base na quantidade ingerida, é entendida como uma preferência da criança, a qual guiará as condutas maternas futuras. Relacionam ainda a aceitação da comida como um comportamento esperado de uma criança saudável. O preparo dos alimentos infantis segue princípios que acreditam ser compatíveis com a fase de desenvolvimento da criança, sendo a textura e consistência valorizadas para evitar engasgos, e ao mesmo tempo encorpadas para garantir a sustância da criança. As práticas alimentares infantis se orientam por saberes que perpassam pela legitimidade do discurso científico e alcançam as subjetividades do conhecimento das mulheres do meio relacional, predominantemente de domínio feminino. A introdução precoce da comida da família, \"a mesma comida que a gente come, ele come\", é uma prática comum. Assim, as práticas alimentares demonstram estabelecer-se em um universo próprio que vai além do acesso à informação e das condições socioeconômicas, mas perpassam pelos desacordos existentes entre a prática declarada e a prática real, sendo guiadas pelas representações da comida como fonte de saciedade, evitando a fome, dando sustância e deixando a criança com o corpo forte e saudável. / The feeding practices of children under one year of age take on innumerable particularities that transcend the biological aspect, and, therefore, should be analyzed according to the cultural, psychological, social, and economic dimensions. Hence, the aim of this study was to understand what social representations that women/mothers have toward the feeding practices of children under one year of age. This is a qualitative study, developed with 15 women/mothers of children under one year of age, users of a public health service in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State. Data collection was performed using semi-structured interviews, which were recorded and fully transcribed, in addition to photographs of the child\'s social context in feeding, provided by the mothers. This process took place after receiving consent from the participants at their households. The content was categorized based on content analysis technique, thematic mode, and the photographs allowed for a complementary analysis. Considering the social representations from the social-anthropologic perspective, the authors analyzed how women, as child care agents, particularly regarding their child\'s feeding practices, act in the various dimensions of the \"social feeding environment\". Four thematic categories emerged: 1) The context of constructing child feeding practices: feeding the family; 2) Child feeding in the first year of life; 3) People considered as a reference for child feeding practices, and 4) Child feeding and health. Eating is a person\'s first socialization experience, and the family is traditionally the location where social learning takes place. Therefore, parents, particularly mothers, have the role of being the first eating educators. Mothers provide the senses and ideologies that support and determine feeding decisions, from the first food provided, breast milk, to the introduction of food in the family. The child\'s eating behavior is limited by physiological conditionings, such as alternations between feelings of hunger and satiation. Children demonstrate these parameters, and guide the mother\'s act of offering her breast to her child and of evaluating her capacity of nursing, which may raise the need of introducing another milk. In complementary feeding, the socioeconomic aspect determines the selection of foods and the value assigned to the food that has the vitamins needed to feed the child. The acceptance of food, evaluated based on the amount consumed, is understood as the being a child\'s preference, and will guide the mother\'s behaviors in the future. Furthermore, there is an assumption that accepting food is a behavior expected in healthy children. The preparation of child food follows principles that believe to be compatible with the child\'s stage of development, in which texture and consistency are considered to avoid chocking, but are also made thick to assure child nourishment. Child feeding practices are guided by knowledge that skims over the legitimacy of scientific discourse and reaches the subjectivity of the knowledge of women in the relational environment, one that is mainly of feminine domain. The early introduction to family food, \"he eats the same food we eat\" is a common practice. Thus, feeding practices are established in their own universe, which goes beyond access to information and socioeconomic condition. However, they are also subject to the disagreement existing between the declared practice and the real practice, and are guided by the representations of food as a source of satiation, avoiding hunger, providing nourishment, and making the child strong and healthy.

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding for six months, with introduction of appropriate complimentary feeding at six months, continuing to 2 years and beyond comes highly recommended. Although breastfeeding rates have improved in South Africa, the prevalence still remains lower than the Rome target of 50%, supporting investigation into factors that influence infant feeding practices. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe infant feeding practices and to determine the factors influencing infant feeding practices of mothers and care givers of infants in the Polokwane Municipality - Limpopo Province. Methods: A cross-sectional health facility-based quantitative and descriptive survey was conducted using a validated-structured questionnaire. Interviews only were conducted to gather quantitative data. The questionnaires were administered to the mothers, one mother at a time. Chi–square tests were used to determine the relationship between selected variables, where p<0.05 was set as level of significance. Results: A total of 146 mothers participated in the study. All were biological mothers of infants. Ninety-four percent of the mothers initiated breastfeeding, however, at the time of data collection 8% of mothers had stopped. Of those who had stopped breastfeeding, 5% stopped earlier than one month after initiation. Thirty-nine percent of mothers breastfed exclusively, while 61% practiced mix feeding. A positive association between breast feeding practices and age of the mother (p<0.036) was observed. The reasons mothers reported for stopping breastfeeding were: mother was ill (45.4%) and going back to school or work (27.3%). Reasons for not breastfeeding were cited as: medical condition, not enough milk and infant refusal to breastfeed at 33.3%. Health workers are the main source of HIV information (77%). Mothers believe that HIV-positive women should breastfeed their infants (57%). Conclusion: breastfeeding initiation is well practiced. Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months is rarely practiced. Infant formula and solid foods were introduced at an early age. Young mothers tend to stop exclusive breastfeeding compared to older mothers.

Thesis (MPH. ) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practices of mothers with regard to exclusive breastfeeding in the Mahwelereng Local Area of the Waterberg District, Limpopo Province. A quantitative study was conducted by using a researcher-administered structured questionnaire at six clinics in the Mahwelereng Local Area. A simple random sampling method was used to select the hundred and seventy five mothers who had babies of less than six months old from whom data was collected. Data was analysed with the assistance of the statistician by using the SPSS software program. Data is presented applying descriptive and inferential statistics. Less than half (74; 42.3%) of the responding mothers were practising exclusive breastfeeding despite the fact that 137 (78.3%) of them were given information about exclusive breastfeeding. There is an association between knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding (Chi-Square= 14.039; Sig=0.000 p<0.05) and exclusive breastfeeding practice. There is no association between exclusive breastfeeding practice and HIV status (Chi-Square=2.444; Sig=0.118; p>0.05). Challenges that mothers faced in relation to practising exclusive breastfeeding were work-related, school-related, health-related, pressure from family to mix-feed, and a lack of knowledge. However, 42.9% of the respondents indicated that they did not have any challenges with regard to the practice of breastfeeding. It was, therefore, recommended that one-on-one counselling about exclusive breastfeeding needs to be intensified and maternity leave should be extended to six months. The majority of respondents showed adequate knowledge of what exclusive breastfeeding was because they were counselled about breastfeeding although they were not practising it. Key words: Exclusive breastfeeding, mothers, knowledge, practices, mix-feeding.

Women in the perinatal period who suffer from mental health challenge (and specifically mood disorders) have a number of special considerations to which they must attend. Issues around psychotropic medication, hormonal fluctuations and/or sleep hygiene, for example, may lead women to a decision to feed their infants with formula. In this hermeneutic study, the experiences of six women are studied. The women are registered with Perinatal Mental Health Program at Vancouver Island Health Authority, and are feeding their infants with formula. Evidence- based-practice guidelines are explored in the context of mental health challenge. A dilemma has been exposed around the perceived need expressed by participants for ‘permission’ to discontinue or not initiate breastfeeding. The potential for further understanding looms with regard to the relationship between breastfeeding challenge and the onset of a mood disorder, including the speculation that breastfeeding difficulties may belong on the list of risk factors for post partum depression.

As práticas alimentares da criança menor de um ano trazem inúmeras particularidades que transcendem o biológico e, portanto requerem ser analisadas nas dimensões culturais, psicológicas, sociais e econômicas. Desta forma, buscou-se compreender quais as representações sociais das mulheres/mães sobre as práticas alimentares das crianças menores de um ano. Tratase de uma pesquisa qualitativa, desenvolvida com 15 mulheres/mães de crianças menores de um ano e usuárias de um serviço da rede básica de saúde de Ribeirão Preto-SP. A coleta de dados foi através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas gravadas e transcritas na íntegra e registros de imagens do contexto social da alimentação da criança, fotografadas pelas mães. A coleta se deu após o consentimento livre e esclarecido, no domicílio dos sujeitos. O conteúdo foi categorizado com base na técnica de análise de conteúdo, modalidade temática, e as fotografias possibilitaram uma análise complementar. À luz das representações sociais na perspectiva socioantropológica, analisou-se como as mulheres, enquanto agentes do cuidado infantil, em especial da alimentação do filho, atuam nas diversas dimensões do \"espaço social alimentar\". Depreenderam-se quatro categorias temáticas: 1) O contexto de construção das práticas da alimentação infantil: a alimentação da família; 2) A alimentação da criança no primeiro ano de vida; 3) Pessoas tidas como referência para as práticas alimentares infantis e 4) A alimentação e a saúde da criança. A alimentação é a primeira socialização dos indivíduos, e a família é tradicionalmente o lócus no qual a aprendizagem social se dá, tendo os pais, particularmente as mães, a função de primeiros educadores alimentares. As mães fornecem os sentidos e ideologias que sustentam e determinam as decisões alimentares, desde o primeiro alimento recebido, o leite materno, até a introdução à comida da família. O comportamento alimentar da criança está delimitado por condicionantes fisiológicos, como as alternâncias de sensação de fome e saciedade, parâmetros esses manifestados pelas crianças, que guiam as condutas maternas na oferta do peito ao filho e na avaliação de sua capacidade como nutriz, evidenciando a necessidade de introduzir outro leite. Na alimentação complementar, o aspecto socioeconômico tem peso determinante na seleção dos alimentos, assim como o valor do alimento que deve ter vitaminas e que sustente a criança. A aceitação da comida, avaliada com base na quantidade ingerida, é entendida como uma preferência da criança, a qual guiará as condutas maternas futuras. Relacionam ainda a aceitação da comida como um comportamento esperado de uma criança saudável. O preparo dos alimentos infantis segue princípios que acreditam ser compatíveis com a fase de desenvolvimento da criança, sendo a textura e consistência valorizadas para evitar engasgos, e ao mesmo tempo encorpadas para garantir a sustância da criança. As práticas alimentares infantis se orientam por saberes que perpassam pela legitimidade do discurso científico e alcançam as subjetividades do conhecimento das mulheres do meio relacional, predominantemente de domínio feminino. A introdução precoce da comida da família, \"a mesma comida que a gente come, ele come\", é uma prática comum. Assim, as práticas alimentares demonstram estabelecer-se em um universo próprio que vai além do acesso à informação e das condições socioeconômicas, mas perpassam pelos desacordos existentes entre a prática declarada e a prática real, sendo guiadas pelas representações da comida como fonte de saciedade, evitando a fome, dando sustância e deixando a criança com o corpo forte e saudável. / The feeding practices of children under one year of age take on innumerable particularities that transcend the biological aspect, and, therefore, should be analyzed according to the cultural, psychological, social, and economic dimensions. Hence, the aim of this study was to understand what social representations that women/mothers have toward the feeding practices of children under one year of age. This is a qualitative study, developed with 15 women/mothers of children under one year of age, users of a public health service in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State. Data collection was performed using semi-structured interviews, which were recorded and fully transcribed, in addition to photographs of the child\'s social context in feeding, provided by the mothers. This process took place after receiving consent from the participants at their households. The content was categorized based on content analysis technique, thematic mode, and the photographs allowed for a complementary analysis. Considering the social representations from the social-anthropologic perspective, the authors analyzed how women, as child care agents, particularly regarding their child\'s feeding practices, act in the various dimensions of the \"social feeding environment\". Four thematic categories emerged: 1) The context of constructing child feeding practices: feeding the family; 2) Child feeding in the first year of life; 3) People considered as a reference for child feeding practices, and 4) Child feeding and health. Eating is a person\'s first socialization experience, and the family is traditionally the location where social learning takes place. Therefore, parents, particularly mothers, have the role of being the first eating educators. Mothers provide the senses and ideologies that support and determine feeding decisions, from the first food provided, breast milk, to the introduction of food in the family. The child\'s eating behavior is limited by physiological conditionings, such as alternations between feelings of hunger and satiation. Children demonstrate these parameters, and guide the mother\'s act of offering her breast to her child and of evaluating her capacity of nursing, which may raise the need of introducing another milk. In complementary feeding, the socioeconomic aspect determines the selection of foods and the value assigned to the food that has the vitamins needed to feed the child. The acceptance of food, evaluated based on the amount consumed, is understood as the being a child\'s preference, and will guide the mother\'s behaviors in the future. Furthermore, there is an assumption that accepting food is a behavior expected in healthy children. The preparation of child food follows principles that believe to be compatible with the child\'s stage of development, in which texture and consistency are considered to avoid chocking, but are also made thick to assure child nourishment. Child feeding practices are guided by knowledge that skims over the legitimacy of scientific discourse and reaches the subjectivity of the knowledge of women in the relational environment, one that is mainly of feminine domain. The early introduction to family food, \"he eats the same food we eat\" is a common practice. Thus, feeding practices are established in their own universe, which goes beyond access to information and socioeconomic condition. However, they are also subject to the disagreement existing between the declared practice and the real practice, and are guided by the representations of food as a source of satiation, avoiding hunger, providing nourishment, and making the child strong and healthy.

Orientador: Antonio Bento Alves de Moraes / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T12:15:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carrascoza_KarinaCamillo_D.pdf: 831163 bytes, checksum: 253e3a3f6e142f86add71e45bb00a126 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Apesar do amplo reconhecimento do aleitamento como fator essencial ao processo de crescimento e desenvolvimento da criança, na maioria dos países observa-se que as taxas de aleitamento exclusivo ainda são baixas e sua duração, insatisfatória. A fim de reverter este panorama e aumentar os índices de aleitamento exclusivo, medidas de promoção e proteção à prática da amamentação, têm sido desenvolvidas e aplicadas em diversos grupos populacionais. Assim, o objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a eficácia de um grupo de incentivo ao aleitamento materno exclusivo. Foi realizado um estudo longitudinal de coorte entre Abril de 2003 e Dezembro de 2004. O Grupo ¿A¿ foi constituído por 120 mães que participaram do Grupo de Incentivo ao Aleitamento Materno Exclusivo (GIAME-Cepae-FOP-Unicamp). O Grupo ¿B¿ foi composto por 113 mães que fizeram inscrição no Cepae, mas que desistiram antes do primeiro encontro do GIAME. As informações referentes aos sujeitos do Grupo ¿A¿ foram obtidas durante a participação nos encontros do GIAME, ao longo dos primeiros seis meses de vida da criança. As mães pertencentes ao Grupo ¿B¿ foram entrevistadas, por telefone, durante os primeiros seis meses de vida da criança. O Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) foi administrado oralmente às mães do ¿Grupo A¿ no segundo e sétimo encontros (primeiro e quarto mês após o parto). O índice de aleitamento materno (aleitamento materno exclusivo somado ao complementar), aos seis meses de vida das crianças do Grupo ¿A¿, foi de 93%, enquanto que entre as crianças do Grupo ¿B¿, foi de 56%. O índice de aleitamento materno exclusivo, nesta mesma idade, foi de 48% no Grupo ¿A¿ e de 9% no Grupo ¿B¿. A prevalência de chupeta, aos seis meses de vida das crianças do Grupo ¿A¿, foi de 23%, enquanto que entre as crianças do Grupo ¿B¿, foi de 54%. O índice de mamadeira, nesta mesma idade, foi de 36% no Grupo ¿A¿ e de 70% no Grupo ¿B¿. As variáveis ¿tipo de parto¿ e ¿ocorrência de problema de mama¿ mostraram associação com a interrupção do aleitamento exclusivo antes dos seis meses de vida, independentemente de outros fatores. Entretanto, após análise de regressão logística, os fatores associados à introdução precoce de alimentos foram: ¿uso de chupeta¿, ¿alto nível socioeconômico¿ e ¿trabalho materno¿. Foi encontrada maior prevalência de ocorrência de problema de mama entre as mães que apresentaram variação de ansiedade ¿crescente¿ e um maior número de mães com sensação de falta de leite entre aquelas com maiores níveis de ansiedade na primeira aplicação do BAI. Assim, o GIAME mostrou ser uma prática eficaz de incentivo ao aleitamento e de redução da prevalência de chupeta e mamadeira entre crianças de 0 a 6 meses de vida. As mães de alto nível socioeconômico e que exercem atividade profissional fora do lar constituem um grupo de risco para a introdução precoce de alimentos, merecendo, assim, atenção especial. A ocorrência de problemas de mama pode ser um dos fatores responsáveis pela instalação do quadro de ansiedade durante a prática da amamentação que, por meio de variáveis comportamentais e/ou fisiológicas pode desencadear o processo de desmame / Abstract: In spite of breast feeding being widely recognized as an essential factor for the child¿s process of growth and development, in the majority of countries it is observed that the exclusive breast feeding rates are still low and of unsatisfactory duration. With the objective to revert this panorama and increasing the exclusive breast feeding indexes, measures to promote and protect the practice of breast feeding have been developed and applied in various population groups. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an exclusive breast feeding incentive group. A longitudinal cohort study was conducted between April 2003 and December 2004. Group ¿A¿ was constituted by 120 mothers that participated in a group to encourage exclusive breast feeding ¿Grupo de Incentivo ao Aleitamento Materno Exclusivo¿ (GIAME-Cepae-Fop-Unicamp). Group ¿B¿ was composed of 113 mothers that registered with Cepae, but desisted before the first GIAME meeting. The information with reference to the subjects in Group ¿A¿ were obtained during their participation in the GIAME meetings, throughout the first six months of the child¿s life. The mothers belonging to Group ¿B¿ were interviewed by telephone, during the first six months of the child¿s life. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was orally applied to the mothers on 2nd and on 7th meetings (first and fourth month after the delivery). In the Group ¿A¿, the breastfeeding rate (exclusive and complementary breastfeeding) was 93% for mothers with infants aged six months, while, in the Group ¿B¿, this rate was 56%. However, exclusive breastfeeding rate, in the same age, was 48% in the Group ¿A¿ and 9% in the Group ¿B¿. In the Group ¿A¿, the pacifier prevalence was 23% for mothers with infants aged six months, while, in the Group ¿B¿, this rate was 54%. The bottle-feeding rate, in the same age, was 36% in the Group ¿A¿ and 70% in the Group ¿B¿. Variables such as ¿type of birth¿ and ¿breast problem occurrence¿ were related to exclusive breast feeding interruption before six months of age, independently of other factors. However, after multiple regression analyses, factors associated with early food introduction were: ¿pacifier use¿, ¿social and economic high level¿ and ¿mother¿s work¿. The data showed high prevalence of occurrence of breast problems among mothers that showed variation of anxiety ¿increasing¿ and a high number of mothers with sensation of lack of milk among those with high levels of anxiety in the first application of the BAI. In this way, the incentive group (GIAME) appears to be effective in promoting breastfeeding practice and showed to be an important practice that decreases pacifier and bottle-feeding prevalence among children with 0 to 6 months of age. Mothers of social and economic high level and who worked outside home represent a risk group for early food, suggesting special attention. The occurrence of breast problems is one of the responsible factors for the installation of the anxiety during the practice of the breastfeeding that, through behavioral and/or physiological variables, can trigger the process of the weaning / Doutorado / Saude da Criança e do Adolescente / Doutor em Saude da Criança e do Adolescente

Bakgrund: Tidigare studier har visat att mödrar upplever sig dåligt bemötta av barnhälsovården då de väljer att ge bröstmjölksersättning till sitt barn istället för att amma.  Studier gällande ämnet amning från Sverige finns, men det verkar vara få som berör barnsjuksköterskans roll. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa mödrars upplevelser av barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskans bemötande i samband med seponerad amning innan barnet nått sex månaders ålder. Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ design där data utgörs av semistrukturerade intervjuer med 14 mödrar som av olika anledningar slutat amma inom sex månader post partum och som analyserats med metoden för kvalitativ innehållsanalys.  Resultat: Analysen resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier; Känsla av stöd, Känsla av maktobalans, Känsla av följsamhet och Känsla av att uppmärksamma olika behov med tio tillhörande underkategorier. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att mödrar önskar att BHV-sjuksköterskan är lyhörd för deras önskemål med amningen oaktat målet är att seponera eller att få den välfungerande. Vidare att de bemöter modern på ett stödjande vis utifrån hennes och barnets individuella behov samt med evidensbaserad kompetens. Då så inte alltid var fallet tyder detta på ett behov av utbildning för BHV-sjuksköterskor gällande amning, forskningsfältet i ämnet och hur mödrar bäst vägleds oaktat sin önskan gällande amningen / Background: Previous studies have shown that mothers experience bad treatment from their pediatric nurse when they have chosen to give breastmilk formula to their child instead of breastfeeding. Studies about breastfeeding from Sweden exist, but it seems to be few that relates to the role of the pediatric nurse. Aim: The aim of the study is to illustrate mothers' experiences with pediatric nurse treatment in conjunction with ceased breastfeeding within six months postpartum.  Method: The study has a Qualitative design where the data consists of semi structured interviews with fourteen mothers who for various reasons stopped breastfeeding within six months postpartum. These were analysed with the method for qualitative content analysis. Result: The analysis resulted in four main categories; Sense of Support, Sense of unbalance of power, Sense of compliance and Sense of paying attention to varying needs with ten associated subcategories. Conclusion: The results show that mothers want the pediatric nurse to be sensitive to their wishes with breastfeeding, either if the goal is to discontinue or to have it work well. Furthermore, the mothers wish to be treated in a supportive way based on her and the child's individual needs and with evidence-based competence. As this was not always the case, this indicates a need for further training for pediatric nurses regarding breastfeeding, the field of research and how mothers wishes are advised regarding breastfeeding.

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

Objectives: To assess the use of the “Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals” standards in practice and academic work settings by public health nurses (PHNs), and to determine differences between practitioners and faculty. Design: Nonexperimental, descriptive study using a cross‐sectional survey. Sample: Three public health nursing (PHN) organizations sent invitations to all members. A total of 334 (18.7%) from an estimated 1,786 members completed the survey. Measurements: The investigators developed a 17‐item web‐based survey with open‐ and closed‐ended responses, using Rogers' diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework. Results: Respondents are equally familiar with the competencies for public health professionals disseminated by the Council on Linkages and for PHNs by the Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (Quad Council). Two thirds of PHNs are aware of the competencies after only 2 years, primarily from professional PHN organizations. Faculty are adopting and using the competencies at a significantly faster rate than practitioners. Conclusions: Faculty and practitioners who use the competencies value them, and rarely discontinued their use after adoption. Efforts to promote diffusion among faculty and especially practitioners need to continue. Professional organizations can actively provide and share examples of useable formats and best practices associated with the competencies.

The infant feeding practices and associated environment of 49 infants (6-23 months) of migrant farm laborers in Northern Colorado were investigated during the summer of 1987. Information was collected on 1) breastfeeding practices, 2) introduction of foods and liquids, 3) nutrition and health practices and inadequacies, 4) home living environment, 5) health history, and 6) demographics. Data on the sources of food and nutrition information was collected regarding the 1) utilization of community food and nutrition programs and 2) input of relatives. A review of data results indicates that a number of nutrition education needs exist among migrant farm laborers concerning the feeding of their infants. Recommendations are made to help meet the nutrition education needs of migrant parents in Northern Colorado. / Master of Science