GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT The study investigated exclusive breastfeeding as a road map to the economic development of families in Uruan Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. The population of this study consisted of all mothers between the ages of 18 and 45 in Uruan Local Government Area, with a total number of 9,844. The study adopted a non-experimental survey to assess exclusive breastfeeding and the health status of infants and mothers. The Data collected from the respondents were coded and transferred into a spreadsheet and summarized. They were coded into the computer and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 11.0 while all the hypotheses were tested at .05 alpha. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. The questionnaire was titled “Benefits of Exclusive Breastfeeding on Babies and Mothers Questionnaire (BEBFBMQ)” and had two sections. A total of 400 mothers were selected for the study through accidental sampling technique. From the results of the data analysis, it was observed that exclusive breastfeeding has a tremendous influence on the family and society. In conclusion, there is a significant influence of exclusive breastfeeding on the family and society and exclusive breastfeeding has a significant influence on psychological values. One of the recommendations was that mothers as well the public should be educated or enlightened by the government on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding through seminars, mass media, churches and local means of disseminating information. KEYWORDS: Exclusive Breastfeeding, Family, Society, Psychological Values, Uruan Local Government Area