A study to assess the effectiveness of educational intervention regarding the rainbow nutrition chart on knowledge and attitude among mothers of school children in selected UPHC at Chennai

Abstract

“Good nutrition is the foundation upon which children’s health and future potential are built.” Adequate nutrition during childhood is essential for healthy growth, cognitive development, and disease prevention. Mothers, as primary caregivers, significantly influence their children’s dietary patterns, yet awareness of balanced nutrition remains limited in many urban communities. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention using the Rainbow Nutrition Chart in improving nutritional knowledge and attitudes among mothers of school-aged children at a selected Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Chennai. A pre-experimental one-group pre- test post-test design with convenience sampling was employed involving 30 mothers. Nutritional knowledge was assessed using a structured multiple-choice questionnaire and attitudes were evaluated using a modified 4-point Likert scale. The mean pretest knowledge score was 13.23 with a standard deviation of 5.10, which improved to a mean post-test score of 23.87 with a standard deviation of 3.20, resulting in a mean difference of 10.64. The mean pretest attitude score was 21.03 with a standard deviation of 5.73, which increased to a mean post- test attitude score of 33.00 with a standard deviation of 3.95 after the intervention, with a mean difference of 11.97. These differences in knowledge and attitude scores were statistically significant (p< 0.05), demonstrating that the educational intervention using the Rainbow Nutrition Chart effectively enhanced mother’s nutritional knowledge and positive attitudes, thus supporting improved family dietary practices.