A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia

Objective: We conducted a six-month nutrition education intervention focused on the consumption of pulses and other foods to assess the effect on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) as well as the nutritional status of children and mothers from two pulse-growing communities in Halaba, south Ethio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Getahun Ersino Lombamo, Carol J. Henry, Gordon A. Zello
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Children
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/11/1400
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850217066270818304
author Getahun Ersino Lombamo
Carol J. Henry
Gordon A. Zello
author_facet Getahun Ersino Lombamo
Carol J. Henry
Gordon A. Zello
author_sort Getahun Ersino Lombamo
collection DOAJ
description Objective: We conducted a six-month nutrition education intervention focused on the consumption of pulses and other foods to assess the effect on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) as well as the nutritional status of children and mothers from two pulse-growing communities in Halaba, south Ethiopia. Methods: About 200 mother–child pairs in each of two purposively selected communities participated in this intervention study. A six-month nutrition education programme, involving interactive monthly community meetings and home visits, was offered to one of the two communities and the other served as a control/comparison. This study incorporated the use of Health Belief Model constructs to assess the KAP/perceptions of mothers surrounding pulse and other food consumptions, as well as nutrition-related issues before and after the intervention. Objective measures included dietary diversity scores (DDSs), one-day weighed dietary intakes and nutritional status measures based on anthropometric information. Demographics and socioeconomic information were also collected at baseline and endline. Results: Significant improvements (<i>p</i> < 0.05) were found in the intervention group on the KAP and perceptions of pulse nutrition benefits among mothers, DDSs and pulse and animal source food consumption indexes for mothers and children and the mean body-mass-index-for-age Z-score and wasting among children. Conclusions: Community-based nutrition education interventions involving monthly interactive community meetings and home visits in pulse-growing communities from a resource-poor country like Ethiopia can be effective in improving mothers’ knowledge of pulse nutrition and consumption frequency, leading to improvements in the DDSs of children and mothers while decreasing child underweight and wasting.
format Article
id doaj-art-8f0eb5595fcc42f8b326a3620325cdee
institution OA Journals
issn 2227-9067
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Children
spelling doaj-art-8f0eb5595fcc42f8b326a3620325cdee2025-08-20T02:08:09ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672024-11-011111140010.3390/children11111400A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South EthiopiaGetahun Ersino Lombamo0Carol J. Henry1Gordon A. Zello2Health Sciences Office, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, CanadaDivision of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, CanadaDivision of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, CanadaObjective: We conducted a six-month nutrition education intervention focused on the consumption of pulses and other foods to assess the effect on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) as well as the nutritional status of children and mothers from two pulse-growing communities in Halaba, south Ethiopia. Methods: About 200 mother–child pairs in each of two purposively selected communities participated in this intervention study. A six-month nutrition education programme, involving interactive monthly community meetings and home visits, was offered to one of the two communities and the other served as a control/comparison. This study incorporated the use of Health Belief Model constructs to assess the KAP/perceptions of mothers surrounding pulse and other food consumptions, as well as nutrition-related issues before and after the intervention. Objective measures included dietary diversity scores (DDSs), one-day weighed dietary intakes and nutritional status measures based on anthropometric information. Demographics and socioeconomic information were also collected at baseline and endline. Results: Significant improvements (<i>p</i> < 0.05) were found in the intervention group on the KAP and perceptions of pulse nutrition benefits among mothers, DDSs and pulse and animal source food consumption indexes for mothers and children and the mean body-mass-index-for-age Z-score and wasting among children. Conclusions: Community-based nutrition education interventions involving monthly interactive community meetings and home visits in pulse-growing communities from a resource-poor country like Ethiopia can be effective in improving mothers’ knowledge of pulse nutrition and consumption frequency, leading to improvements in the DDSs of children and mothers while decreasing child underweight and wasting.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/11/1400nutrition educationmaternal nutritionchild nutritionpulsedietary intakeEthiopia
spellingShingle Getahun Ersino Lombamo
Carol J. Henry
Gordon A. Zello
A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
Children
nutrition education
maternal nutrition
child nutrition
pulse
dietary intake
Ethiopia
title A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
title_full A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
title_fullStr A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
title_short A Nutrition Education Intervention Positively Affects the Diet–Health-Related Practices and Nutritional Status of Mothers and Children in a Pulse-Growing Community in Halaba, South Ethiopia
title_sort nutrition education intervention positively affects the diet health related practices and nutritional status of mothers and children in a pulse growing community in halaba south ethiopia
topic nutrition education
maternal nutrition
child nutrition
pulse
dietary intake
Ethiopia
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/11/1400
work_keys_str_mv AT getahunersinolombamo anutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia
AT caroljhenry anutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia
AT gordonazello anutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia
AT getahunersinolombamo nutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia
AT caroljhenry nutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia
AT gordonazello nutritioneducationinterventionpositivelyaffectsthediethealthrelatedpracticesandnutritionalstatusofmothersandchildreninapulsegrowingcommunityinhalabasouthethiopia