Effect of a comprehensive nutrition education program on nutritional behavior and food security of female-headed households who receive welfare support in Zanjan Province, Iran

BMC Public Health

Research

Majid Aminzare¹  Hassan Hassanzadazar¹  Yasamin Ayatollahi²  Mehran Rahimlou²  Jalal Hejazi³  Mohammad Masoud Vakili⁴ 

[1]Department of Food Safety and Hygiene, School of Public Health, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

[2]Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, P.O.Box: 4513956111, Mahdavi Blvd., Shahrak-E Karmandan, Zanjan, Iran

[3]Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, P.O.Box: 4513956111, Mahdavi Blvd., Shahrak-E Karmandan, Zanjan, Iran

[4]Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

[5]Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

[6]Department of Health Education & Health Promotion, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

关键词: Nutrition education;    Food security;    Food safety;    Physical activity;    Low-income families;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-16478-x

 received in 2023-02-24, accepted in 2023-08-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn recent years, the food security and dietary quality of many Iranian families have deteriorated due to unprecedented inflation. Nutrition education programs can be an effective and inexpensive method to improve food quality and security. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a comprehensive nutrition education program for low-income women who are heads of households and are covered by the Zanjan province’s welfare.MethodsThe food security of 2600 female-headed households covered by the Welfare of Zanjan province was evaluated using a standard 6-item questionnaire. A total of 600 women with the highest food insecurity scores were selected for the comprehensive nutrition education program. The participants received six sessions of 1.5 h of courses about how to improve the quality of their diets and manage their budgets and be physically active. At the beginning of the study and one month after the completion of the intervention, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed and validated by the investigators. The scores of each section before and after the intervention were compared using paired t-test method and p values ​​of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsThe prevalence of severe food insecurity among female-headed households who receive welfare support in Abhar, Khodabandeh, and Zanjan cities was 59.5%, 75%, and 62%, respectively. A total of 505 participants successfully completed the courses. After completion of the educational intervention, diet quality, physical activity, budgeting, and food safety scores of the participants increased by 6%, 4%, 4%, and 5%, respectively, which were statistically significant (p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in the food insecurity scores.ConclusionThe comprehensive nutrition education program without financial or nutritional support can have a small but significant impact on the improvement of the nutritional behaviors and dietary quality of low-income people.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023