The Effect of an Educational Package on Nutritional Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Pregnant Women

Introduction: Adequate nutrition is an important part of a healthy pregnancy and nutrition education can play an important role in improving the health of the mother and her child. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an educational package on nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behavior of pregnant women. Methods: : In this quasi-experimental study, 88 women of 8-14 weeks of pregnancy referring to health centers in Karaj were selected through convenience sampling method and were randomly allocated to the experiment (n=44) and control (n=44 ) groups. The experiment group received nutrition education program including two 60-90 minute lecture sessions and an educational booklet and film. The control group received sexual education with similar method. Data were gathered using a self-made questionnaire including demographic characteristics, nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behavior (with 16,21,14,and 21 items, respectively) before and four weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using chi-square test, paired-T-test, T-test, McNemar test and analysis of covariance and logistic regression. Results: At baseline, there was no significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics, and mean of nutritional knowledge, attitude and behavior scores (P<0.05). After the intervention, the mean scores were significantly higher in the experiment group than those in the control group in terms of the knowledge (63.5±13.5 vs. 35.7±12.8), attitude (74.8±7.8 vs. 65.2±8.3) and behavior (61.5±14.5 vs. 36.7±13.9) (p<0.001). Also, optimal food intake was significantly more frequent in the experiment group compared with the control group on meat (OR= 4.51, CI95% 1.56-13.00), bread and cereal (OR= 3.68, CI95% 1.32-10.25), and milk and dairy products (OR=3.38, CI95% 1.12-10.21). Conclusion: Findings of the study indicate that the educational package was effective in promoting nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behavior of pregnant women. This intervention program is easy to implement. Therefore, it is recommended to implement it at health centers.