Baby Powder Use in Infant Skin Care: Parental Knowledge and Determinants of Powder Usage

One hundred parents of infants aged 2 weeks to 6 months were surveyed at the time of routine well-child visits to assess parental knowledge about baby powder and to determine whether hospital policy of providing a free powder sample to newly delivered mothers was unwittingly promoting powder usage....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical pediatrics 1984-03, Vol.23 (3), p.163-165
Main Authors: Hayden, Gregory F., Sproul, George T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Domestic and cosmetic products toxicology
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant Care
Infant, Newborn
Male
Medical sciences
Parents - psychology
Powders - adverse effects
Skin
Surveys and Questionnaires
Toxicology
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Summary:One hundred parents of infants aged 2 weeks to 6 months were surveyed at the time of routine well-child visits to assess parental knowledge about baby powder and to determine whether hospital policy of providing a free powder sample to newly delivered mothers was unwittingly promoting powder usage. Most parents (69%) reported regular baby powder use as part of routine infant skin care. Powder-users were significantly more likely than nonusers to attribute to baby powder the ability to kill bacteria and yeast and to prevent diaper rash (p < 0.01). Even among nonusers, fewer than half were aware that aspiration/ingestion of baby powder was a potential health hazard. Almost all parents reported receiving a free sample of baby powder while in the hospital as part of a complimentary gift pack provided by the manufacturers. Most powder-users were currently using a brand they had received as a sample, and eight parents cited the receipt of a sample as the major determinant for selecting a particular brand of powder. The short- and long-term effects of distributing sample packs to newly delivered parents deserve further study.
ISSN:0009-9228
1938-2707
DOI:10.1177/000992288402300306