The purpose of this study was to investigate preferences and satisfaction levels in maternity and nursing brassiere. A questionnaire was conducted on 302 women from their 20s to 40s who had breastfeeding experience. The questionnaire included questions on participant demographics, purchase behavior, and design preference and satisfaction levels. The majority(98.0%) of the participants had had experience using maternity/nursing brassieres. More than 90% of the participants agreed with the need for maternity/nursing brassieres distinct from regular ones. Shopping online was the most common means of purchasing them. The most and second-most owned fastener types were the detachable shoulder belt type and inside-cup type, respectively. The most selected reason for purchasing or wearing a maternity/nursing brassiere was the convenience of donning and doffing the brassiere during breastfeeding. Participants had lower satisfaction levels with how well maternity/nursing brassieres support and center the breasts, and with the variety of designs available on the market. Respondents indicated that fasteners for breastfeeding should be developed to provide comfort and convenience for breastfeeding. Wearing comfort was reported as the most important factor in purchasing selection, both during the pregnancy and breastfeeding periods. No-wire, back closure, full-cup, U-shape wing, and skin color were the most preferred design styles.

The purpose of this study was to investigate preferences and satisfaction levels in maternity and nursing brassiere. A questionnaire was conducted on 302 women from their 20s to 40s who had breastfeeding experience. The questionnaire included questions on participant demographics, purchase behavior, and design preference and satisfaction levels. The majority(98.0%) of the participants had had experience using maternity/nursing brassieres. More than 90% of the participants agreed with the need for maternity/nursing brassieres distinct from regular ones. Shopping online was the most common means of purchasing them. The most and second-most owned fastener types were the detachable shoulder belt type and inside-cup type, respectively. The most selected reason for purchasing or wearing a maternity/nursing brassiere was the convenience of donning and doffing the brassiere during breastfeeding. Participants had lower satisfaction levels with how well maternity/nursing brassieres support and center the breasts, and with the variety of designs available on the market. Respondents indicated that fasteners for breastfeeding should be developed to provide comfort and convenience for breastfeeding. Wearing comfort was reported as the most important factor in purchasing selection, both during the pregnancy and breastfeeding periods. No-wire, back closure, full-cup, U-shape wing, and skin color were the most preferred design styles.

Infanthood is a crucial period when mental and emotional developments take place along with physical growth. Adequate supply of nutrition is essential during this period and there is an urgent need for proper education and guidance on balanced nutrition. Therefore, this study was designed to assess to current status of lactation and to investigate mothers' perspectives on human milk and formular milk. As random samples for this study, a total of 352 mothers having infant under the age of 4 were surveyed. 27.3% of mother surveyed were breast-feeding, 38.0% were formula-feeding and 34.7% were mixed-feeding. According to the result of this study, the percentage of breast feeding was on the decrease, while the dependence on formular milk was on the rise. The main reason of formula-feeding was insufficient secretion of human milk on mothers part. The major factors that affect to select feeding method were employment status, degree of education, family income and age. Also, the interviewees desired the product fortified with special ingredients that are hot contained in formular milk currently available in the market. The most concerned problem of formula milk was indigestion and the interviewees wanted the formular milk to be improved digestibility.

This study was undertaken to determine factors associated with infant feeding practices among highly educated Korean mothers living in Texas, USA and local populations. In both groups, infant's birth order, maternal age, prenatal education, husband's attitude, mother's attitude and infant's taking a bottle to bed were not associated with infant's feeding patterns significantly. However, there was a significant difference in initiating time for introduction of supplementary foods between Koreans and Americans. Thus Korean mothers introduced supplementary foods earlier than American counterparts. Furthermore the infant's feeding method among all participants affected the time for introducing supplementary foods significantly. Though attitude of Korean mothers toward breastfeeding was slightly more positive than that of American mothers, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Koreans was much lower than that in Americans. It might be suggested that effective nutrition education program for Korean subjects should be developed to practice breastfeeding from positive attitude and knowledge. It might be also suggested that participation of prenatal nutrition education involving fathers should be encouraged for promotion of rates of initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding of mothers.

A study was designed to assess the current status of infant feeding and weaning practice through an retrospective survey on feeding method, a period of weaning and various kinds of weaning food. Analysing a few influential environmental factors while assessing the level of knowledge today's mothers have on infant nutrition. The results are as follows: 1. As random samples for this study, a total of 516 mothers having infants under the age of 3 were surveyed. Among them, 235 were from Seoul and 281 were from Kyongi province (Yongin, Suwon, Bupyong, Poil, Kihung, Ansan(Chungbuk)). 2. Among the infants who fell under the category of normality (Kaup index 15~18), the infants from Seoul area amounted to 60.7%, surpassing the percentage of the infants from Kyongi province, 41.9%. The percentage of the infants belong to a group of under nutrition (Kaup index 〈13) was relatively higher than that of the infants in a group of overnutrition (Kaup index 〉20). 3. 16.1% of mother surveyed were breast-fed, 54.6% were formula-fed and 29.3% were mixed-fed. The result indicated that the percentage of breast-fed infants of high-educated, working mothers were relatively lower than those of low-educated housewives. 4. Most of the respondents knew the significance or the necessity of supplementary food in terms of weaning. 5. 98.8% of those surveyed responded that the mother's adequate knowledge on weaning was necessary. 70.1% of them replied that they wanted to get various and in-depth information in printed materials such as books or other kinds of publications. They, also showed deep interest in recipe of weaning food. 6. The average period when those surveyed began weaning of their infants was 4.3±1.8 months. The tendency of earlier weaning in 3 months was founded among 41.1% of them. About half of the respondents, 52.3%, started weaning of their infants in 4~6 months. In overall, 93.4% of them set on weaning in less than 6 months after babies were born. The survey, in addition, revealed an interesting fact that earlier weaning of infants was shown in the group of high-educated mothers. 7. According to the study, finishing period of weaning was 13.3±5.4 months on average. Only 38.9% of the respondents ended weaning of their infants in 12 months, the proper period recommended by renowned experts. In general, the infants on formula-feeding finished their weaning later than those on breast-feeding (p〈0.05).