Breastfeeding knowledge and health behavior among Mayan women in rural Guatemala

Emily E Little1, Maria Alejandra Polanco2, Salvador R Baldizon2

  • 1University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.

Guatemala has the fourth highest infant mortality rate in Latin America, which makes the support and protection of breastfeeding especially critical. Traditional health-promoting practices like breastfeeding may be protected by increasing knowledge of its benefits. Yet there is a dearth of research documenting breastfeeding knowledge (i.e., knowledge of its benefits for infant health and development) in communities where breastfeeding is already practiced.

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