Effect of community-based nutritional counseling intervention on children's eating habits

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the outcome of community-based nutritional counseling interventions on eating habits of ruraldwelling children.Methods: A group-randomized trial design was used in this study. A total of 108 rural-dwelling children from a community in the Enugu North agricultural zone, Enugu State, who participated in the study. The children were randomly assigned to 2 groups: the treatment group (n = 54) and the no-treatment control group (n = 54). The child eating behavior questionnaire was used for data collection. Parents of the participating children within each study group completed the child eating behavior questionnaire at 3 time points. The data collected were analyzed using an independent sample t test at a probability level of .05. Result:The outcome of the study showed that the children's eating habits in the treatment group improved positively following the community-based nutritional counseling intervention. The positive gain from exposure to the community-based nutritional counseling intervention program was sustained during follow-up for children in the treatment group compared with the no-treatment group. Conclusion:The community-based nutrition counseling intervention carried out among children in rural communities had a positive adjustment in children's eating habits. The intervention requires the constant collaboration of professional childhood educators, caregivers, home economists, school staff, healthcare specialists, families, and the children themselves. Furthermore, there is a need for future long-term evaluations of the effects of community-based nutritional counseling interventions on children's nutrition and eating habits.Abbreviation: CEBQ = child eating behavior questionnaire.

Effectiveness of Nutritional Health Interventions on Improving Knowledge, Attitude, and Eating Habits among Malnourished Toddlers

“…Promoters of health, families, nutritionists, counselors, child educators, school employees, rural extension workers, and children themselves must all collaborate on ongoing initiatives. An examination of the long-term potential of community-based nutrition counseling treatments on children's future nutrition is once again required (Dike et al, 2021;Melo et al 2020).…”

Nutritional counseling in childhood and adolescence: a systematic review

“…In particular, 144 million children under 5 years-old were classified as stunting, 47 million as wasted and 38.3 million were overweight ( 1 ). In 2017, the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WHO expert committee on food additives reported that less than half of pediatric rural communities worldwide meet the dietary requirements for any food group ( 2 ). Thus, globally, children are not achieving the dietary recommendations.…”

“…A good eating habit, as part of a lifestyle, is among the multiple interacting factors of an overall good health status. The two main contributing factors are (i) biological (internal influence, for example, genetic predisposition) and (ii) psychosocial aspects (external or environmental influence) ( 2 ). These factors must be considered when choosing an intervention for delivering nutritional care ( 4 ).…”

Effect of Learner-Centred Nutritional Counselling Program on Eating Behaviours of Students in Middle Basic Education Classes

“…There is a growing number of current studies which suggest that nutrition education and nutritional counselling are very much required to improve the eating behaviours of students at the Nigerian basic education level [18][19] [20]. Hegazy et al [21] stated that the provision of nutritional counselling might be related to substantial improvement in individual's dietary outcomes, nutritional knowledge, nutritional practices, health status and their feat in daily life activities.…”

“…The study reported multiple diet changes due to the nutritional counselling program and noted that in healthy adults, this might lessen their body mass index and possibly minimize the risk of chronic illness. Dike et al [18] also determined the efficacy of a nutritional counselling program on eating habits among children in a Nigerian rural community. The study reported a significantly positive impact of the nutritional counselling program on the children's eating habits both at posttest and follow-up.…”