Breastfeeding

HealthStyles Survey — Breastfeeding Practices: 2003

Data by Year

The HealthStyles survey is one of a pair of linked postal mail surveys sent to a sample of adults aged 18 years and older. It is drawn to be nationally representative of seven U.S. Census Bureau demographic characteristics. The first survey is a consumer survey about general media habits, product use, interests, and lifestyle. The second survey, HealthStyles, focuses on health orientations and practices. This survey has been administered annually since 1995. From 1995 through 2001 it was linked with the DDB Needham LifeStyles consumer survey. Beginning in 2002 it is linked with the Porter Novelli ConsumerStyles survey. HealthStyles is a proprietary database product of Porter Novelli and is licensed by the CDC for audience analysis in health communication planning.

For additional information regarding CDC's involvement in the annual Healthstyles Survey, visit the CDC Office of Communications.

HealthStyles Questions and Data by Year

All items are coded on the likert scale of 1 to 5 from strongly disagree, to moderately disagree, neither disagree nor agree, moderately agree, or strongly agree.

2003 HealthStyles Survey Items

Question	# Analyzed Respondents	Agree	Neither Agree/ Disagree	Disagree
Feeding a baby formula instead of breast milk increases the chances the baby will get sick.	3,969	24.4%	35.9%	39.6%
If a child is not breastfed, she/he will be more likely to get ear infections.	3,960	19.3%	37.9%	42.8%
If a child is not breastfed, she/he will be more likely to get respiratory infections, such as bronchitis, or pneumonia.	3,953	18.6%	39.2%	42.2%
If a child is not breastfed, she/he will be more likely to become overweight.	3,945	7.4%	35.2%	57.4%
If a child is not breastfed, she/he will be more likely to get diabetes.	3,917	4.0%	33.1%	62.9%
Infant formula is as good as breast milk.	3,958	25.7%	31.5%	42.8%
Mothers who breastfeed should do so in private places only.	3,976	37.0%	26.7%	36.3%
Babies should be breastfed at least for the first 6 months.	3,916	48.9%	35.9%	15.2%
I am comfortable when mothers breastfeed their babies near me in a public place, such as a shopping center, bus station, etc.	3,976	48.1%	21.6%	30.3%
Have you seen, heard or read anything about breastfeeding anywhere recently? Please check all that apply. (Not a liker scale question)	3,969	• TV Program 8.0% • TV Commercial 6.9% • Radio 2.9% • Magazines 19.8% • Newspapers 7.2% • Internet or the Web 4.5% • Billboards or outdoor posters 2.2% • Some other places 7.3% • Nothing recently 67.3%