The Relationship of the Breastfeeding Attitude with Eating Attitude and Body Image of Obese and Non-Obese Mothers with Babies Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Objective: The research was conducted to determine the relationship between obese and non-obese mothers' breastfeeding attitudes with eating attitudes and body perception.Materials and Methods: The sample of the descriptive study consisted of 248 mothers (obese:120; non-obese=128). The data were collected with the Personal Information Form, Breastfeeding Attitudes of the Evaluation Scale (BAES), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and Body Perception Scale (BPS).Results: It was determined that 14.2% of obese mothers and 14.1% of non-obese mothers were prone to eating attitude disorders. There was a weak statistically significant negative relationship between BAES and the EAT scores of obese (r=–0.284; p=0.002) and non-obese women (r=–0.371; p=0.000). A statistically significant relationship was not determined between the BAES and BPS scores (p>0.05).Conclusion: While there was no relationship between breastfeeding attitude and body perception of obese and non-obese women, the tendency to eating attitude disorder decreased as obese and non-obese mothers’ positive breastfeeding attitudes increased. According to these findings, it is recommended to support a positive breastfeeding attitude in mothers.