Teshome Getenesh Berhanu, Whiting Susan J, Green Timothy J, Mulualem Demmelash, Henry Carol J
School of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Sep 22;20(1):1437. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09262-8.
Improving children's weight status through nutrition education (NE) for mothers about using pulses in complementary feeding has been demonstrated in pilot studies, but no effect on stunting was reported. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a 9-month pulse-nutrition education program on improving mothers' knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards pulses, as well as its effect on children's diet diversity, and nutritional status. The NE was delivered by Health Extension Workers (HEWs).
A cluster randomized study was employed for the community-based interventional study. Twelve randomly selected villages in Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia were included in the study. A total of 772 mother-child pairs involved in the study; where 386 mother-child pairs in the intervention group received additional messages about pulse-cereal complementary food, and 386 pairs (the control) received only routine health education for 9 months. A survey on mothers' KAP and anthropometric measurements of the children were taken at baseline, midpoint, and end point. ANOVA and descriptive statistics were used to analyzed data.
At baseline and end point, maternal KAP and the dietary diversity score of the children (mean age at end point 18.8 ± 2.9 mo) were assessed. Intervention mothers' KAP improved (p < 0.001) at midpoint and end point compared to that of the control group, as did frequency of pulse consumption and Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) among children. At 9 months, the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight was significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = 0.001).
NE delivered by HEWs improved KAP of mothers regarding pulse consumption and dietary diversity of children led to improved nutritional status of the children. Training HEWs on the use of pulses for complementary food may be an effective way to improve the health of children in Ethiopian communities.
Clinicaltrials.gov # NCT02638571 . Date of registration: 12/18/2015. Prospectively registered.
在试点研究中已证明，通过对母亲进行关于在辅食中使用豆类的营养教育（NE）来改善儿童的体重状况，但未报告对发育迟缓有任何影响。本研究的目的是评估为期9个月的豆类营养教育计划对改善母亲关于豆类的知识、态度和行为（KAP）的影响，以及其对儿童饮食多样性和营养状况的影响。营养教育由健康推广工作者（HEW）提供。
采用整群随机研究进行基于社区的干预研究。埃塞俄比亚南部锡达马地区随机选择的12个村庄纳入研究。共有772对母婴参与研究；其中干预组的386对母婴收到了关于豆类谷物辅食的额外信息，386对（对照组）仅接受了为期9个月的常规健康教育。在基线、中点和终点对母亲的KAP以及儿童的人体测量进行了调查。使用方差分析和描述性统计分析数据。
在基线和终点时，评估了母亲的KAP和儿童的饮食多样性得分（终点时平均年龄为18.8±2.9个月）。与对照组相比，干预组母亲的KAP在中点和终点时有所改善（p<0.001），儿童食用豆类的频率和饮食多样性得分（DDS）也是如此。在9个月时，与对照组相比，干预组发育迟缓、消瘦和体重不足的患病率显著降低（p=0.001）。
健康推广工作者提供的营养教育改善了母亲关于豆类消费的KAP，儿童饮食多样性的改善导致了儿童营养状况的改善。对健康推广工作者进行豆类用于辅食的培训可能是改善埃塞俄比亚社区儿童健康的有效途径。
Clinicaltrials.gov # NCT02638571。注册日期：2015年12月18日。前瞻性注册。
