ARE SAUDI FEMALE COLLEGE-STUDENTS PREPARED FOR SUCCESSFUL BREAST-FEEDING

A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 285 female stud ents from the Science and Arts tracks of the Dammam College for Girls in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire w as answered by the girls to determine whether Saudi female college stu dents were prepared for successful breastfeeding, and to assess their knowledge about relevant aspects of breastfeeding. The questionnaire c ontained questions about time of first feed, frequency of breastfeedin g, duration of a feed and duration of breastfeeding. Correct answers w ere made by 38%, 33%, 35% and 59% of the students respectively. Those with a high knowledge score who would breastfeed in the future were si gnificantly mote than those with a lower knowledge score (p<0.001). Wh en the knowledge score and seven other variables were entered into a l ogistic regression model, knowledge was found to be the only significa nt predicting factor for the decision to breastfeed in the future. The study showed that the attitude of young Saudi women is favourable tow ards breastfeeding. However, they do not seem to be prepared to breast feed so successfully. Knowledge was the only predictory factor for the decision to breastfeed in the future. An educational programme may in crease the prevalence of breastfeeding in this community.