Effects of Nutrition Education on Nutrition Knowledge and Iron Status in Primary School Pupils of Gatanga District, Muranga Country, Kenya

Abstract

School-age children are both growing and learning, and anaemia can affect cognitive function, motor performance and educational achievements of this age group. Nutrition education has not been given the priority it deserves in primary schools due to the busy school curriculum. It is in this light this study was designed for one teaching calendar year. Subjects & methods: Pupils (n=601) covering the age 11-18 years were included. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of three main Nutrition Education strategies on nutrition knowledge and iron status among primary schools children in Gatanga district. A baseline survey was conducted in 12 randomly selected schools for class six pupils and their households. Questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to collect data, with pre and post tests. The interventions schools were Mabanda, Kigio and Kirwara (experimental) and Gakurari (control school). Baseline data were analyzed by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Nutri-Survey computer packages using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The data were coded to search for emerging themes. This led to the identification of variables and concepts of iron deficiency in the children, which was crucial to the design of the corrective measures model for the interventions. On average the mean mark, in nutrition knowledge at baseline was 30.05%. In the post-tests all experimental schools (n=154) significantly improved in nutrition knowledge, and the peer facilitated school performed best with (51.52+24.79) marks, Researcher facilitated school (48.39+22.23) and the agriculture staff (38.70+9.87). The pre-test post- test improvement in the control school (31.21+12.74) was however not significant (p>0.05). A total of 31.4 % pupils ( Sub sample n=89) were found to be anaemic after altitude adjustments at a calculated factor 0.5 for Gatanga altitude (2237m ASL). Pupils’ haemoglobin status were not significantly different (p>0.05) between the experimental and control schools at baseline, notable differences occurred in the experimental schools after the interventions. Relationship between nutrition knowledge and nutrient intake was positive and there was a statistically significant relationship between nutrition knowledge and hemoglobin levels at p<0.05 (R2=0.253, p=0.025). Anemia was found to be a significant problem and therefore the need for a comprehensive intervention strategy by all stakeholders to improve the iron status in this age group.

Impact of Nutritional Health Education on Knowledge and Practices of Mothers of Anemic Children in El Othmanyia Village – Egypt

“…Moreover, the mean hemoglobin of the studied children increased significantly after the nutritional educational sessions. These results were similar to the results presented by Gitau et al in Kenya (12.8 g/dl-13.4 g/dl) and Grover and Choudhary in India (8.55 g/dl-10.66 g/dl) [22], [23]. Another study conducted in India in 2019 showed that anemia cure rate was higher in children in the intervention group compared with the control group (55.7% vs. 41.4%) [24].…”

Effect of Picture-based health education and counselling on knowledge and adherence to preconception Iron-folic acid supplementation among women planning to be pregnant in Eastern Ethiopia: a randomized controlled trial

“…However, the mean score of knowledge in the control group showed some improvement after intervention. The results of previous studies are in line with our own, as we found that the nutrition education has a significant impact in improving knowledge (75)(76)(77)(78) . In addition, these studies reported a significant difference in the mean scores between two groups (intervention and control) after intervention only, whereas no significant mean difference was observed at the baseline concurrent with our findings.…”

“…However, the proportion of improvement in knowledge and adherence was reported different between studies (83) . These differences are related to the duration of the intervention and the method(s) used to deliver the intervention (76) .…”

Diseño y validación de un cuestionario para evaluar el nivel de conocimientos generales en trastornos del comportamiento alimentario en estudiantes de ciencias de la salud

“…A pesar de la baja aportación del atributo: « sexo en que predominan los TCA », a la calificación global: correlación ítem/total en los cuestionarios inicial y final de 0,156 y 0,150 respectivamente; se decidió mantenerlo en el cuestionario definitivo por el importante papel del sexo en todos los procesos relacionados con la alimentación y en particular con los TCA8, 11, 22. La diferencia entre grupos hallada en las calificaciones globales respecto al sexo, coincide con los resultados de otras investigaciones en que son las mujeres quienes demuestran un mayor nivel de conocimientos en nutrición o en alimentación y que suelen demostrar mayor predisposición a participar en estudios relacionados con la salud27, 28.…”