Design and testing of IEC module for reducing under nutrition among women of low income group
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Date
2019-09
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G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)
Abstract
Malnutrition is a term used to refer any condition in which the body does not receive enough nutrients for proper function, it can be both under or over nutrition Undernutrition is defined as the outcome of insufficient food intake (hunger) and repeated infectious diseases. Undernutrition and infection make each other worse, India and the Indian subcontinent is major affected area with this deficiency disease. Almost one in every 4 woman are undernourished in India, according to NFHS-4, 22.9% of Indian women are below 18.5 Kg/m2 of BMI. Undernutrition not only makes a women look thin, and lethargic but does have other consequences too, such as low birth weight baby, anaemia, bone problems, retarded mental growth and renal, hepatic and gastric problems. An Undernourished woman necessarily gives birth to a undernourished child, and thus affecting the quality of human resource in society. Thus it should be dealt with utmost priority. Undernutrition can be treated in two ways, either through dietary approach or by bringing the change in behaviour of people towards food. Since low income group women are mostly prone to the diseases only a modified diet plan does not make a sufficient difference. Right attitude towards food is required. In the present study IEC (Information Education and Communication) approach was used to bring about changes in the knowledge, attitude and practice of undernourished women. The efficacy of the IEC module was tested using a KAP (knowledge, Attitude and Practice) tool. A pre tested questionnaire was used for data collection. The changes were significant at with α = 0.05 level of significance, and the ρ -values for change in knowledge was 3.667E-07, 1.138E-10 for attitude and 1.138E-10 for practice after 15 days of exposure to IEC. Though a decrease in score were seen after 30 days of exposure to IEC still the change in their levels was significant at α = 0.05 and the ρ -values for change in knowledge was 0.0016, for attitude the change in score was 0.0015, and 0.00030 for practice. The study revealed that the right exposure to undernutrition and its health implications and good food cooking practices, substantially increase the knowledge, attitude and practice towards food and health among subjects. However the subjects tend to show poor practise performance, it may be due to social problem or their lack of interest. So a repetitive exposure to knowledge should be given to the vulnerable groups for sustainable improvement in their
health.
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