Effectiveness of a Designed Dietary Educational Program on Maternal Nutritional Knowledge, Practices, and Anthropometric Outcomes of Their Children Under Five Years of Age | ||
| Port Said Scientific Journal of Nursing | ||
| Volume 12, Issue 2, June 2025, Pages 58-88 PDF (602.5 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/pssjn.2025.383480.1360 | ||
| Author | ||
| Nagwa Rizk Mohamed* | ||
| Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Healthy nutrition is essential for a child's growth and development, as it can maintain general health and weight gain. Optimal physical condition is crucial at every phase of life, especially through infancy and childhood. Mothers are the primary caregivers for their children during their early years, and this care is influenced by their nutritional knowledge and practices. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a designed dietary educational program on maternal nutritional knowledge, practices, and anthropometric outcomes of their children under five years of age. Subjects and Method: The study sample consisted of 314 mothers having 314 children below 5 years of age. A purposivesampling study was used. A quasi-experimental design was employed in this study at the outpatient pediatric clinics and pediatric inpatient department of Hurghada Hospital in the Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. The data were collected using three tools: a nutritional knowledge questionnaire, a maternal reported practices assessment tool, and the child’s anthropometric measurements. Results: Only a few of the mothers demonstrated good nutritional knowledge before the implementation of the program. However, after completing the program, this percentage increased to 32.5%. Before the program, around two-fifths of the mothers showed inadequate nutritional practices. In contrast, after the dietary program, nearly all mothers exhibited competence in their nutritional practices. Concerning children's anthropometric outcomes, the results showed a significant relation between children's length/height-for-age, weight-for-age, and body mass index for age, before and after the implementation of this program. Conclusion: Educational program significantly impacts a mother's nutritional knowledge and practices regarding their children. Moreover, children's length/height-for-age, weight-for-age, and BMI-for-age were positively affected by the dietary program. Recommendation: Implementation of a dietary program for mothers on children's nutrition at various ages and in different clinical settings to enhance overall benefits. And encourage mothers to regularly assess their children's anthropometric measurements to enhance their children’s physical growth. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Anthropometric outcomes; Children under five years; dietary educational program; Maternal nutritional knowledge; practices | ||
| References | ||
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