Breastfeeding is the cornerstone of a child's development, nutrition, and mother's health. Breastfeeding has proven to increase a child's chances of survival and lower infant mortality by 13%. Nigeria still has a low rate of exclusive breastfeeding, even though it is crucial component for a healthy generation. This study investigated the level of awareness of EBF through radio campaigns among nursing mothers in Nasarawa state. The study was anchored on Yale's Persuasion Theory. The researcher adopted a crosssectional design which made use of Survey research design and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The population of this study consists of nursing mothers attending public health institutions in four (4) wards from 2 LGAs selected for the study in Nasarawa state. The sample size of four hundred (400) adopted for the study, 252 was returned and used for the analysis. Multi-staged sampling technique was used, the data gathered from the administered questionnaire was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0 software. Out of the 252 mothers who participated, the demographic data showed 96(38.1%) of the respondents to be within the age range of 26-30 years with majority 251(99.6%) of them being married. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents 70(27.8%) were illiterate or can either read or write while University graduates or equivalent were 9(3.6%). Findings also revealed that 113(44.9%) of the respondents are highly aware of radio broadcast media campaigns on exclusive breastfeeding. The study showed that 117(46.4%) of the respondents were exposed to an exclusive breastfeeding campaign in the Hausa language which helped them to understand the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. The study further revealed 143(56.7%) that fully adhere to the practice of EBF for 6 months in both urban and rural locations. The FGD revealed that most nursing mothers got their EBF awareness and importance of Colostrum through radio broadcast campaigns and Health Workers during antenatal. The study concluded that less than half of the respondents are highly aware of exclusive breastfeeding practice radio campaigns in Nasarawa State. Therefore, the study recommended the need for more awareness campaigns and the need for more exposure of the women to such publicity in order to highly intensify their practice of exclusive breastfeeding.
Vol. 3, No 2, pp. 137-150.