Awareness Of Good Nutrition During Pregnancy Among Women Of Child Bearing Age In Egor Local Government Area
Abstract
Awareness Of Good Nutrition During Pregnancy Among Women Of Child Bearing Age In Egor Local Government Area This research work was designed to examine the awareness of good nutrition during pregnancy among women of child bearing age. Six (6) research questions were formulated and questionnaires were administered to one hundred (100) respondents in order to gather data for the research. Results showed that the pregnant women are aware of the importance of good nutrition to a child bearing mother.
It was discovered that the level of education among child bearing age mother does affect their level of food intake in the area of study. The result also revealed that poor food intake can lead to malformation of the unborn child. Some recommendations were made by the researcher which includes the following: Health workers should embark on a proper sensitization of pregnant women on the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy.
- Government should sponsor giggles that centers on the usefulness of good nutrition among child bearing age mothers during pregnancy.
- Seminars and workshops should be organized regularly for the pregnant women to educate them on the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy.
- Pregnant mothers should be encouraged to eat food rich in vitamins by the health workers/officials.
- Child bearing age mothers should be empowered by government financially to improve their health living.
Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that pregnant women had low level of nutritional knowledge level in the study area.
Conclusion
The findings of this study showed a significant relationship between maternal nutrition knowledge and feeding practices with the nutritional status of children. Maternal nutrition knowledge, minimum feeding frequency and minimum acceptable diet were significantly associated with underweight and stunting while minimum dietary diversity included wasting. Bottle feeding showed significant association with stunting while introduction to solids at 6-8 months included underweight. These significant associations therefore indicated that poor maternal knowledge on nutrition and child health and sub-optimal child feeding practices predispose to malnutrition in children in their first two years of life. However, the findings of this study have clearly shown that there remain important gaps in knowledge about desirable infant and young child feeding practices and even where the knowledge exist, there is a gap between the ideal and practice with regards to infant feeding practices.
