A Health Promotion Intervention to Improve Nutritional Knowledge and Dietary Practices among Pregnant Women: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that nutrition education during pregnancy significantly affects pregnant women's eating habits as well as the outcomes for the mother and the unborn child. During each prenatal care visit, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises healthcare practitioners to provide pregnant women with appropriate, targeted, and accepted nutrition-related advice.
Aim: To determine the effect of a health promotion intervention to improve nutritional knowledge and dietary practices among pregnant women.
Design: To conduct this study, a Quasi-experimental research design pre-post-test was utilized.
Settings: The study was conducted at the antenatal clinics at Sohag University Hospitals.
Sample: A convenience sample of 300 pregnant women was recruited from the previously selected settings.
Tools: A structured interviewing questionnaire and pregnant women’s reported dietary practices.
Results: The results showed that there was a highly statistically significant difference found between pregnant women’s nutritional knowledge. Pre the health promotional intervention, more than three-quarters of pregnant women had unsatisfactory total dietary practice scores pre-intervention, which improved, and most of them had satisfactory total dietary practice scores post-intervention.
Conclusion: The health promotion intervention had a significant effect on improving pregnant women's nutritional knowledge and dietary practices during pregnancy.
Recommendation: Pregnant women should be informed about nutritional issues through health promotion programs during the prenatal stage to avoid consequences related to these issues.