Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Parenting in Romania
Press Release
July 25, 2006
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Parenting in Romania
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 – The baseline research study on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Parenting in Romania was launched. The study was realized by Foundation Our Children and the “Step by Step” Education and Professional Development Centre, with the support of UNICEF Romania. The research is part of the “Parent Education in Preschool Education in Romania” project, launched by UNICEF in 2005 with funds offered by PETROM S.A. member of OMV Group (Euro 150,000).
It is for the first time that Romania has a study, on a sample of population representative at national level, regarding the parenting skills, that includes knowledge, attitudes and practices on the up rearing, care and education of children from birth until the age of 7. The study explores in an integrated manner the parenting regarding breastfeeding, nutrition, health and hygiene, the interactions between parents and children, as well as the knowledge of the parents regarding the changes in the approaches to child development, education and up-bringing .
The study places at the disposal of decision makers in the systems of education, health and child protection a wide range of data and information regarding the skills of the parents with small children. Also, the final research report comes with a series of recommendations for the central and local authorities, for the mass media, for parents and for the private sector. The usefulness of the study is proved by the fact that it has already been used as ground for up-dating the information and the recommendations from the educational material “Advice for Parents”. This material, realized and updated by Foundation Our Children was released by UNICEF as part of the same project and launched together with the Study on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Parenting in Romania.
The study points out to a series of relevant data, of which it is worth mentioning that exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life is a practice little applied at national level and that parents usually give their children medication (including anti-biotic medication) without the prior consultation of a physician; at least 17% of the parents are not aware of the purpose of vaccination and mistake vaccines for other treatments preventing rickets and anaemia; the parents have insufficient knowledge and practice regarding the intimate hygiene of children; the stereotype opinions and attitudes of the parents regarding the gender roles and responsibilities limit the children’s development opportunities.
An alarming fact revealed by the research is that the physical punishment continues to be largely used as discipline methods; although the parents are aware of the importance of games and play for the development of the toddlers, 95% pf the parents with children aged 0-1 appreciate the relevance of play only from the leisure perspective and do not perceive them as the main learning activity of the children.
The observation of tradition and of the traditional methods of children care and up-bringing is still strong and influences the practices of the parents. The parents may, thus, apply some care practices that are harmful, especially to the baby or the toddler (the swaddling of the baby at least during the first month of life, making the baby wear a hat that supposedly protects it from draft, piercing the ears of the baby girls for earrings, etc.).
“It is obvious that in the last decades the services or the information needed for the development of parenting in Romania have been neglected and that parents need help in this direction,” declared Mr. Pierre Poupard, UNICEF Representative. “Although it is the parents who bear the first duty and responsibility regarding the realization of their children’s rights, the community, the local and the central authorities have at the same time the duty to support the parents to fulfill their obligations” Pierre Poupard added. The data of the study should contribute to the elaboration of the strategies of parenting education, early childhood education and also to the development of programmes of training for parents that will be realized by governmental or non-governmental bodies.
The study was realized based on a UNICEF methodology adapted and developed to obtain a wide range of information related to parenting. The WHO methodology was used to calculate the size of the samples. The stratification criteria included the 8 Romanian development regions, the rural and urban areas. A total of 2,631 families with children aged 0 to 7 were interviewed. The sample is representative at national level for a level of trust of 95% and an error margin of approx. +/- 5%.
Contact person: Raluca Zaharia, Communication Consultant, UNICEF Romania phone (+40 21) 201.78.47, email: rzaharia@unicef.org
