Christine Smith Christine.smith@cue1.umt.edu

Christine and son Oryn

I am interested in studying breastfeeding patterns cross-culturally, and plan to conduct my MA thesis research on breastfeeding in Chile. My project has two main objectives. The first is to explain the relationship between infant formula advertising and the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. The second objective is to clarify the association of mothers’ knowledge of health consequences of feeding type with both infant formula advertising and actual feeding practices. To reach these objectives, I will analyze national level breastfeeding data for Chile for a quantitative understanding of existing breastfeeding patterns, particularly the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. I will supplement these analyses with on-the-ground ethnographic research, to provide the necessary data on exposure to advertising and mothers’ knowledge of health implications of infant feeding type.