PONE-D-21-03860

Knowledge of breast feeding practice and associated factors among fathers whose wife delivered in last one year in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia

PLOS ONE

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Luca Cerniglia, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Dear editor,

Thank you very much for the invite to review the manuscript entitled: “Knowledge of breast feeding practice and associated factors among fathers whose wife delivered in last one year in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia”.

I have read with much interest the paper, since early experiences of nutrition are crucial for infants’ and young children’s physical and mental well-being.

I believe that the work of the authors can add as an interesting contribution to international empirical research focused on this topic.

The writing is adequately understandable and appears to be sound (form and contents are quite clear). The general aim and results are clearly recognized. The use of written English is good and clear.

My overall impression on all this manuscript is positive but I would like to comment on some points in the study, so that the authors can improve the final version of their work.

Introduction

The introduction should better emphasize the relevance of the topic in order to be linked to the main stated objective.

I suggest to better indicate the progression of the topics through the subdivision of the paper in a first part, dedicated to the presentation of theoretical aspects and empirical studies concerning the specific issue of breast feeding practice, highlighting the paternal parental figure, which is the key element of the whole work.

For this purpose the authors might consult the work by Cerniglia and colleagues (2014) and the work by Searle and colleagues (2020), listed below:

Cerniglia, L., Cimino, S., & Ballarotto, G. (2014). Mother–child and father–child interaction with their 24‐month‐old children during feeding, considering paternal involvement and the child's temperament in a community sample. Infant Mental Health Journal, 35(5), 473-481.

Searle, B. R. E., Harris, H. A., Thorpe, K., & Jansen, E. (2020). What children bring to the table: The association of temperament and child fussy eating with maternal and paternal mealtime structure. Appetite, 151, 104680.

Moreover, I think the introduction could be improved by indicating precisely the theoretical model that guides the authors’ methodological choices in their study, with particular reference to the developmental age. This important element should be stated in the work.

For this purpose the authors might consult the work by Erriu and colleagues (2020), in which, for istance, the theoretical and empirical model of Developmental Psychopathology is presented.

Erriu, M., Cimino, S., & Cerniglia, L. (2020). The Role of Family Relationships in Eating Disorders in Adolescents: A Narrative Review. Behavioral Sciences, 10(4), 71.

Method

The section on methodology could be improved in the choice of titles to be given to subsections.

A possible articulation could be the following:

Research Methods

-Subjects and procedure

-Measures

-Statistical analysis

With regard to the instruments and procedures, information on the properties of the instruments and a specific description of procedure should be added.

Discussion and conclusion

In the conclusions section authors should discuss more precisely the complexity of father’s role in relation to the well-being of the child.

In this attempt authors should consider some factors that could be take into account in future research extensions, such as the interplay between social, biological and psychological factors.

Reviewer #2: Thank you for the opportunity of revising this manuscript titled “Knowledge of breast feeding practice and associated factors among fathers whose wife delivered in last one year in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia”. I think that the paper focuses on interesting aspects, but there were some limitations. So I think that it can be published in this Journal, but with minor revision. Please find below some comments.

INTRODUCTION

It would be important for the authors to describe the specific characteristics by which breastfeeding can be defined as suboptimal.

The authors should report in more detail on previous studies that explored the father's role in breastfeeding of their children and on the quality of early father-children feeding interaction with a focus on possible risk and protective factors associated.

To this end, the authors should cite the following recent works:

- Ogbo, F. A., Akombi, B. J., Ahmed, K. Y., Rwabilimbo, A. G., Ogbo, A. O., Uwaibi, N. E., ... & Agho, K. E. (2020). Breastfeeding in the community—how can partners/fathers help? A systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(2), 413.

- Cimino, S., Marzilli, E., Tafà, M., & Cerniglia, L. (2020). Emotional-Behavioral Regulation, Temperament and Parent–Child Interactions Are Associated with Dopamine Transporter Allelic Polymorphism in Early Childhood: A Pilot Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8564.

- Ng, R. W. L., Shorey, S., & He, H. G. (2019). Integrative review of the factors that influence fathers’ involvement in the breastfeeding of their infants. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 48(1), 16-26.

It is important to clarify what this study adds to the previous literature. Why is it important?

There is no clear theoretical framework and the authors should describe from the beginning the theoretical framework from which they start for their own study.

At the end of the introduction, the authors should clearly describe the objectives of the study and the underlying assumptions, based on previous literature

METHODS

Please provide additional details regarding participant consent and opinion of the ethics committee, including protocol number.

The authors need to provide more information on the instrument used to assess Father's knowledge about breastfeeding. Has an ad hoc self-report questionnaire been constructed? How many and which items? Was a clinical interview conducted? On the basis of which criteria is Father's knowledge about breastfeeding knowledge considered good or poor?

Among the independent variables the authors considered the following Socio-demographic factor: age, residence, income, educational status of both wife and husband, occupation of husband and wife, age at marriage.

Why? It is important that the authors mention in the introduction the previous literature that has suggested the role played by these variables.

DISCUSSION

Authors should more clearly discuss the findings from the previously identified literature and

present conclusions supported by the results.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Knowledge of breast feeding practice and associated factors among fathers whose wife delivered in last one year in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia

PONE-D-21-03860R1

Dear Authors,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Luca Cerniglia, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The authors have successfully responded to the reviewers' comments.

I think the paper can be accepted for publication.

Best regards

Reviewers' comments: