Abstract
Background In Ethiopia, poor dietary practice among pregnant women ranges from 39.3 to 66.1%. Limited nutritional knowledge and wrong perception towards dietary behaviours were underlying factors. Hence, this study was aimed to determine the effect of nutrition education based on Health Belief Model on nutritional knowledge and dietary practice of pregnant women in Dissie town, northeast Ethiopia, 2017 GC. Methods Community-based cluster randomized control trial was employed. A total of 138 pregnant women participated. Nutrition education was given using Health Belief Model (HBM) theory and general nutrition education for intervention and control group, respectively. The baseline and endline nutrition knowledge and dietary practice was assessed using knowledge and dietary practice questions. HBM construct was assessed using five-point likert scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Student's t-tests and chi-square tests were used. At 95% confidence level, P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result The mean pre- and postintervention nutritional knowledge was 6.9 and 13.4, and good dietary practice was 56.5% and 84.1% in intervention group, respectively. The increase in mean nutritional knowledge was statistically significant (P < 0.001). In control group, the pre- and postintervention mean nutritional knowledge was 7.4 and 9.8, and good dietary practice was 60.9% and 72.5%, respectively. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in mean nutritional knowledge and proportion of good dietary practices between two groups at endline, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05) at baseline. There was significant (P < 0.001) improvement in the scores of HBM constructs in intervention group. Conclusion and Recommendations Providing nutrition education based on Health Belief Model improves nutritional knowledge and dietary practices of pregnant women. Hence, governmental, nongovernmental organization, health extension workers, and other health-care provider should include Health Belief Model construct into existing nutrition education programs. Moreover, government should incorporate HBM theory into national nutrition education guidelines.
Highlights
Pregnancy is the most crucial nutritionally demanding period of every woman’s life
Discussion is study included 138 pregnant women selected from four clusters. e finding supports the effectiveness of nutrition education based on Health Belief Model (HBM) to improve the nutrition knowledge and dietary practices of pregnant women through increasing perceived severity, susceptibility, benefits, self-efficacy, and decreasing perceived barriers
The figure was significantly increased to 13.4 in intervention group. e preintervention dietary practice in intervention and control group was 56.5% and 60.9%, respectively. e postintervention result showed that the proportion of pregnant women with good dietary practice increased to 84.1% in intervention group. e improvement in nutritional knowledge and dietary practice within intervention and between two groups was highly statistically significant (P < 0.001) at endline
Summary
Pregnancy is the most crucial nutritionally demanding period of every woman’s life. Appropriate nutrient intake during this period has a critical role in fetal development [1] and better maternal nutritional status [2]. This study was aimed to determine the effect of nutrition education based on Health Belief Model on nutritional knowledge and dietary practice of pregnant women in Dissie town, northeast Ethiopia, 2017 GC. Nutrition education was given using Health Belief Model (HBM) theory and general nutrition education for intervention and control group, respectively. E mean pre- and postintervention nutritional knowledge was 6.9 and 13.4, and good dietary practice was 56.5% and 84.1% in intervention group, respectively. E increase in mean nutritional knowledge was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The pre- and postintervention mean nutritional knowledge was 7.4 and 9.8, and good dietary practice was 60.9% and 72.5%, respectively. The pre- and postintervention mean nutritional knowledge was 7.4 and 9.8, and good dietary practice was 60.9% and 72.5%, respectively. ere was significant difference (P < 0.05) in mean nutritional knowledge and proportion of good dietary practices between two groups at endline, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05) at baseline
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