Study on Nutrition Education for Mothers and Children Living in Underprivileged Circumstances in India

The objective of this study was to educate underprivileged mothers on nutrition through an educational musical video. The setting was in Kolkata, India. There were 30 mothers from accessible population, living in a low socio-economic neighborhood in Kolkata, India. Data was collected through pre and posttest survey questionnaires, observations, and focused interviews. The mothers were divided into two groups of 15. The return rate of the survey was 100%. The musical video was the intervention. The main feature of the intervention was information about essential diets, especially during pregnancy for mothers. The mothers were very focused and eagerly paid attention to the video. Then the video was repeated and was often paused for discussion. Results revealed that the posttest answers were much richer than the pretest answers. From the interview, it was evident that the mothers retained information from the video. The frequency count of the healthy food items mentioned in the survey questionnaire was analyzed using percentage. Then the data was analyzed qualitatively using a thematic approach. Two themes emerged from the data. The mothers gained knowledge about nutritional needs for themselves and their children, and maternal autonomy regarding diet increased. Since poor nutritional outcomes of Indian children are steadily increasing, this project addressed the importance of nutritious diet and the significance of maternal autonomy regarding health and nutrition. Keywords: children, India, mothers, nutrition education, underprivileged