Effect of Nutrition Education on Knowledge, Complementary Feeding, and Hygiene Practices of Mothers With Moderate Acutely Malnourished Children in Uganda.

BACKGROUND

Inappropriate infant and young child complementary feeding practices related to a lack of maternal knowledge contributes to an increased risk of malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality. There is a lack of data regarding the effect of nutrition education on maternal knowledge, feeding, and hygiene practices as part of a supplementary feeding intervention targeting infants and young children with moderate acute malnutrition in low-income countries like Uganda.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether nutrition education improves knowledge, feeding, and hygiene practices of mothers with infants and young children diagnosed with moderate acute malnutrition.

METHODS

A cross-sequential study using a pretest-posttest design included 204 mother-infant pairs conveniently sampled across 24 randomly selected clusters. Weekly nutrition education sessions were embedded in a supplementary porridge intervention for 3 months. Mean scores and proportions for knowledge, feeding, and hygiene practices were determined at baseline and end line. The difference between mean scores at the 2 time points were calculated with the paired test analysis, while the proportions between baseline and end line were calculated using a test analysis.

RESULTS

Mean scores for knowledge, dietary diversity, and meal frequency were higher at end line compared to baseline ( < .001). Handwashing did not improve significantly ( = .183), while boiling water to enhance water quality improved ( < .001).

CONCLUSION

Nutrition education in conjunction with a supplementary feeding intervention targeting infants and young children with moderate acute malnutrition improved meal frequency, dietary diversity and water quality.