Introduction
Midwives and nurses play a crucial role in supporting breastfeeding [Although the benefits of breastfeeding are often highlighted in health education, some health experts have criticized the presentation of breastfeeding as the intervention and formula feeding as the comparison. A systematic review of the presentation of infant feeding studies found that only 11% of abstracts named formula feeding as a health risk exposure. The authors argued that skew in the communication of research findings might reduce knowledge of and support for breastfeeding among health professionals [There is concern regarding how people interpret breastfeeding recommendations when the recommendations are based on the risks of infant formula to their babies’ health. A study of 434 university students in the United States found no significant difference in breastfeeding intention between those who received advocacy texts with “risks of formula” language, which presented the risks of formula feeding over breastfeeding, and those who received texts with “benefits of breastfeeding” language, which highlighted the benefits of breastfeeding over formula feeding. Furthermore, respondents who read the text with risk language were more likely to rate it as less trustworthy, less accurate, and less helpful than were those who read the text that stressed the benefits of breastfeeding. The authors concluded that use of risk language might not be advantageous for health promotion and might even be counterproductive to the goals of breastfeeding advocates [In Japan, “breast is best” has been a standard message from health organizations since the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched a breastfeeding promotion campaign in 1975 [Do changes in breastfeeding attitudes differ between midwives and nurses who have read a “benefits of breastfeeding” text and those who have read a “risks of formula” text?Which version of the text produces agreement with the text, comfort with the text, and interest in the text among midwives and nurses?Are there actions to the text associated with attitudes toward breastfeeding after reading the text?