Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Toward Nutrition and Diet During Pregnancy Among Recently Delivered Women of Syrian Refugees

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the nutrition situation in terms of knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) among recently delivered Syrian refugee women and to identify nutrition related KAP problems of this vulnerable population. An analytical descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a nonrandomized sample of one hundred recently delivered Syrian women from refugee background aged 18 years old and above who were admitted for delivery to the obstetric unit of a governmental hospital located in Beirut, Lebanon. The study reveals that fifty-six percent of the studied population was not knowledgeable about maternal nutrition during pregnancy, twenty-five percent had a negative attitude toward antenatal care (ANC) services and nutrition during pregnancy and forty-seven percent of the participants were having bad dietary practices during pregnancy. Knowledge, attitude and practices toward nutrition and diet during pregnancy are still lacking among this sensitive population.

Pregnant mothers’ knowledge, attitude, practice and its predictors towards nutrition in public hospitals of Southern Ethiopia: A multicenter cross-sectional study

“…This finding was supported by studies conducted among refugee women in Syria and Malaysia where maternal education was shown to be associated with and practice score. 17 , 25 This association could be linked to the effect of education on nutritional information, which could help women access different readable sources. Because of this design issue, the study cannot guarantee a cause-effect relationship.…”

The Effect of Health Education on Dietary Knowledge and Practices of Pregnant Women in Jordan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

“…In contrast, a study in Ethiopia found that, only half of the pregnant women reported adequate knowledge about a balanced diet 22 and a study in Lebanon indicated that 65% of women did not know the causes of undernutrition. 9 The findings of the current study may demonstrate some previous exposure to certain dietary-related topics among pregnant women, either at home or in the antenatal care setting. However, the total score of dietary practices was lower than the total score of knowledge in both groups before the health education indicating that adequate knowledge does not necessarily translate into a healthy practice.…”

“…This proportion is similar to those reported in Lebanon and Australia. 9,23 Women in our study may have been aware of the impact of smoking on pregnancy outcomes. This might be also because the Jordanian culture discourages women from smoking, especially during pregnancy.…”

“…8 In agreement, it was also reported among Syrian refugee women in Lebanon that they had insufficient dietary knowledge and poor dietary practices during pregnancy (56% and 47%, respectively). 9 In contrast, a study in Nigeria reported excellent knowledge among 62% of 244 pregnant women, yet this knowledge did not improve dietary practices in 50% of the participants. 10 The WHO (2016) recommends that health care professionals should provide nutrition education at each antepartum visit.…”

“…A structured questionnaire was used based on the instruments used in previous studies. [7][8][9] Minor modifications were made to accommodate the Jordanian culture and achieve the study purpose. To ensure the validity of the modified questionnaire, content and face validity were examined by a panel of nursing faculty experts.…”