Impact of Nutrition Education on Knowledge Gain of Mothers and Rural School Going Children of Fatehabad District, Haryana

The present study was conducted to assess the impact of nutrition education on nutritional knowledge of 50 rural school going children (10-12 years) and their mothers for two months at 15 days interval in Fatehabad district, Haryana, India. The nutritional knowledge was studied using pre-tested questionnaire. Pre-scores of nutrition knowledge indicated that most of the mothers had inadequate knowledge about various aspects of nutrition. Post-scores indicated a highly significant (p≤0.01) gain in knowledge scores of mothers. It was found that there was a significant gain in knowledge of mothers regarding importance of balanced diet (3.58), source of nutrients in diet (3.72), importance of green leafy vegetables and fruits in diet (4.22), nutrient deficiency diseases and their prevention (4.16), conservation of nutrients (5.84) and care during illness/diseases and hygiene (6.42).The pre and post knowledge scores obtained before and after imparting nutrition education to the children, indicated that most of the children had inadequate knowledge about various aspects of nutrition before imparting nutrition education. However, post-scores indicated a highly significant (p≤0.01) gain in knowledge scores of children regarding the importance of balanced diet (1.92), nutrient deficiency diseases (3.82), sources of nutrients in diet and importance of green leafy vegetables (4.84) and hygiene & health (4.14).