Effects of nutrition education of mothers on anthropometric indices of preschoolers and mothers’ nutrition knowledge in Umuguma, Imo State, Nigeria

Background: Many rural women have little or no knowledge of nutritive value of foods, and what constitute an adequate diet, as a result, most Nigerian families often depend on processed complementary foods low in nutrient density which contributes to growth faltering among infants. Objective: The study determined the anthropometric indices of the children and the nutritional knowledge of their mothers as well as evaluated the effect of nutrition education on the anthropometric indices of preschoolers. Methods: A community-based longitudinal study using stratified sampling technique was conducted among 284 mothers and children within the age of six months to five years in Umuguma Owerri-West Local Government Area, Imo State. Data on nutritional knowledge of the mothers and anthropometric measurements were collected before nutrition education and evaluation was carried out on the same group after six months of applied nutrition education programme. Mothers were taught on formulation and preparation of complementary and family food both for their families and their preschoolers using demonstration method. The anthropometric measurements were processed using the WHO Anthro-plus software. Descriptive statistics was used in analyzing the data. Chi- square was used to determine the significance of difference. The decision criterion was placed at P<0.05. Results: The study observed improvement in the women’s nutritional knowledge after nutrition education. The mean Z-Score of the children on anthropometric parameters was improved in both sexes but higher in female than male children after nutrition education. Prevalence of malnutrition present among the preschoolers (under nutrition and wasting) disappeared after nutrition education. Significant (P<0.05) associations was observed between mothers’ nutrition knowledge and preschoolers’ prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight before nutrition education. But after nutrition education, there was no statistically significant (P>0.05) association between wasting, underweight and nutrition knowledge, though stunting had a significant (P<0.05) association with nutrition knowledge of the mothers. Conclusion: Nutrition education improved the nutritional knowledge of the mothers which improved the nutritional status of their children

Intake of multiple micronutrients supplementation during pregnancy and effects on birth weightof infants in Umuna, Orlu Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria

Background: Deficiencies in micronutrients are prevalent and may occur among women of child bearing age. This may be as a result of inadequate dietary intake and nutritional status before and during pregnancy. Objective: This study assessed the impact of micronutrients supplementation during pregnancy on birth weight of infants in Umuna, Orlu Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria. Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional study design was adopted. Mothers and infants from 0-6 months old constituted the study population. Two hundred and twenty-two mother-child pairs were recruited from two health centers in Umuna. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to collect information on micronutrient supplementation, dietary pattern using food consumption frequency and birth weight. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Results: The result showed that 59.5% of the mothers were between 26-35 years. Married women were 98.2%, 54.1% were traders, 66.7% had secondary education, 76.1% had less than 3 children and 85.1% earned between ₦5,000-₦20,000 monthly. About 89% attended antenatal visit, 61.7% commenced micronutrient supplementation in second trimester while none had prenatal supplementation. Folic acid (98.2%), Vitamin C (94.6%) and vitamin B complex (83.8%) were the supplements taken once daily by the mothers while ferrous sulphate (83.8%) and multivitamin (82%) were taken 3 times daily. Less than half (23.9%) of the mothers gave birth to macrosomic (>4.0kg) babies while 9.0% gave birth to low weight (<2.5kg) babies. The result also showed that the mothers were not taking Omega 3, Zinc, Vitamin A and Calcium supplements. There was a significant (P<0.05) difference between supplement intake and birth weight. Conclusion: Multiple micronutrient supplementations in pregnant women may help in improving the birth weight of infants. Therefore, nutrition education on the importance of micronutrients supplementation before and during pregnancy should be taught to women of child bearing age