Grover, KiranHarmanjot Kaur2018-02-052018-02-052017http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810040370A total of 60 pregnant women (20-40 years) registered in Mother and Child Care Unit of Civil Hospital, Ludhiana during 1st trimester of pregnancy were selected for the present study. The subjects were divided into two groups (Control with multiple strategy community intervention and Experimental with nutrition counselling + multiple strategy community intervention). Nutrition counselling with a holistic approach through lectures, discussions, power point presentation and demonstrations was imparted to the subjects for 5 months. The impact was assessed in the terms of improvement in dietary intake, anthropometric, haematological profile and knowledge level of the subjects. The findings revealed that dietary intake of various food groups significantly (P<0.05) increased during post intervention in the experimental group but the diet still remained inadequate. A positive impact of nutrition counselling was observed on the nutrient intake of energy, protein, vitamin-C, folic acid, calcium and iron of the experimental group. A significant (P<0.05) increase was observed in the mean haemoglobin level of the subjects from 9.22±0.75 g/dl to 10.19±0.85 g/dl leading to 20 per cent decrease in moderate anaemia in the experimental group. All the anthropometric indices of the neonates in the experimental group were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the control group and the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) in the control group was higher as compared to experimental group. Nutrition counselling proved to be an effective measure in improving knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding maternal and child health among the subjects. Maternal nutritional status showed significant (P<0.05) correlation with anthropometry of newborns. Birth weight of the newborn was also found to be positively associated with age, education and pre-pregnancy nutritional status of the mother. The study recommends that nutrition counselling should be an imperative part of the multiple strategy community intervention to achieve maternal and child nutritional health status.ennullThesis