173 e-ISSN: 2580-9776 (Online) p-ISSN: 2580-1163 (Print) Ekawidyani, et al | Amerta Nutrition Vol. 6 Issue 2 (June 2022). 173-182 Copyright ©2022 Faculty of Public Health Universitas Airlangga Open access under a CC BY – SA license Joinly Published by IAGIKMI & Universitas Airlangga ABSTRAK Latar Belakang: Pemberian Air Susu Ibu (ASI) eksklusif perlu didukung dengan praktik menyusui optimal seperti inisiasi menyusu dini (IMD), pemberian kolostrum, dan tidak diberikannya makanan/minuman prelakteal. Tujuan: Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis pengetahuan gizi dan faktor-faktor yang berhubungan dengan praktik menyusui/pemberian makan bayi pada ibu menyusui. Metode: Penelitian potong lintang ini dilaksanakan pada Maret–Nopember 2020 di Desa Sibubut, Desa Kedungdalem, dan Desa Bayalangu Kidul, Kabupaten Cirebon. Responden adalah 44 ibu menyusui dengan bayi berumur <6 bulan. Data pengetahuan gizi ibu dan praktik menyusui/pemberian makan bayi diperoleh dengan kuesioner tervalidasi, sedangkan data asupan ibu menyusui diperoleh dari hasil recall asupan 24 jam selama 2 hari (hari kerja dan libur). Analisis korelasi Spearman dan Chi Square dilakukan untuk menguji hubungan antar variabel, sedangkan analisis komparasi variabel pengetahuan gizi dan praktik menyusui/pemberian makan bayi menurut tingkat pendidikan menggunakan uji Mann-Whitney. Hasil: Karakteristik keluarga (usia, pendidikan dan pekerjaan ibu, pendapatan keluarga, paritas, besar keluarga, dan IMT) tidak berhubungan dengan praktik menyusui/pemberian makan bayi (p=0,427; 0,136; 0,481; 0,056; 0,699; 0,241; dan 0,547, berturut-turut). Pengetahuan gizi ibu tidak berhubungan dengan praktik menyusui /pemberian makan bayi (p=0,728). Tidak ditemukan perbedaan nyata dalam pengetahuan gizi tentang ASI (p=0,828) dan praktik menyusui/pemberian makan bayi Nutrition Knowledge, Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding Practice of Mothers in Cirebon Regency Pengetahuan Gizi Ibu, Praktik Menyusui dan Pemberian Makan Bayi di Kabupaten Cirebon Karina Rahmadia Ekawidyani 1 , Ali Khomsan* 1 , Mira Dewi 1 , Yughni Azizah Thariqi 1 1 Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia OPEN ACCESS RESEARCH STUDY ARTICLE INFO Received:12-04-2021 Accepted: 08-10-2021 Published online: 06-06-2022 *Correspondent: Ali Khomsan erlangga259@yahoo.com DOI: 10.20473/amnt.v6i2.2022.173- 182 Available online at: https://e- journal.unair.ac.id/AMNT Keywords: Colostrum, Exclusive Breastfeeding, EIBF, Mother’s Education ABSTRACT Background: Exclusive breastfeeding should be supported by early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF), provision of colostrum and not providing pre-lacteal feeding. Objectives: The study objective was to analyze nutritional knowledge and factors related to breastfeeding and feeding practices of lactating mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in March–November 2020 in Sibubut, Kedungdalem, and Bayalangu Kidul Villages, Cirebon Regency. Study respondents were 44 lactating mothers with under six months infants. Mothers’ nutritional knowledge of breastfeeding and breastfeeding/feeding practice were obtained using a validated questionnaire, while the food consumption data of mothers was obtained from two days of 24-hour food recall (weekday and weekend). Spearman’s correlation test and Chi-Square analysis were used to analyze the correlation between variables, while the Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze the difference in nutritional knowledge and breastfeeding/infant feeding practice variables based on education level. Results: Family characteristics (age, mother’s education and occupation, household income, parity, family size, and Body Mass Index (BMI) were not correlated with breastfeeding/infant feeding practice (p=0.427; 0.136; 0.481; 0.056; 0.699; 0.241; 0.547, respectively). There was no significant correlation between nutritional knowledge and breastfeeding/infant feeding practice of mothers (p=0.728). No significant difference was found in the nutritional knowledge of breastfeeding (p=0.828) and breastfeeding/feeding practice of infants (p=0.572) between mothers with education > elementary school and < elementary school. More mothers with low education provided pre-lacteal food than mothers with higher education (p =0.046). Conclusions: The breastfeeding/feeding practice of mothers are still poor regardless of education level. Nutrition education for breastfeeding mothers is required to encourage good breastfeeding/infant feeding practices.