Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

THE IMPACT OF NUTRITION EDUCATION ON MOTHERS’KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOR IN GANGGA ISLAND, NORTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Laurensi Sasube and Aldian Hein Luntungan

Abstract

Malnutrition remains a public health concern in Indonesia, particularly in the remote areas where the level of awareness about nutrition is still lacking. There was a reported case of malnutrition in Gangga Island,North Sulawesi although the paramedics have handled it. Knowledge about good nutrition can lead to a healthier diet for children. Nutritional knowledge level of the mother could be influence on eating behaviors of their children. Therefore nutrition training may have a good impact on improving the knowledge of mothers, the way they feed their children, and consequently the health of the children by decreasing the malnutrition. This research was a longitudinal study. The level of mother’s knowledge measured based on questionnaires where administered post and pre nutrition education to all mothers who had children at risk of malnutrition which is below the Body Mass Index (BMI) standardin Gangga Island. The observation of the mothers’ behaviour was done through focus study groups (FSG) 6 months later. Statistical analysis and data processing were done by using SPSS 16.0 windows program. The resulted showed that nutrition education has a significant impact by increasing of mother’s knowledge about nutrition was found to be 86.4%, dairy menu dietary reserved by mothers and mother’s behavior in children feeding was increasing to 68.18% and 63.63% respectively. Bivariate analysis showed a significant correlation between nutrition training and increasing the knowledge and behavior of mothers. There are influential impact of nutrition training on mother’s knowledge and behavior with children at risk malnutrition in Gangga Island.