A Quasi-Experimental Study in West Java on the Effects of Educational Interventions on Knowledge and Prevention Behaviors of Pregnant Women with Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) in the Prevention of Stunting

Abstract

Serious health problems occur when children with stunting, a condition caused by poor nutrition and attention, are affected. Raising mothers' awareness could empower them and change their behavior in terms of stunting prevention. The purpose of this study is to investigate how education can help pregnant women with CED become more knowledgeable about how to prevent stunting in their unborn children. To gauge knowledge gain, the study employed a quasi-experimental approach using questionnaires and educational sessions. Pregnant women with chronic energy deficiencies were recruited in the study to learn how to prevent stunting in their offspring. The intervention's efficacy was evaluated using the Wilcoxon test, and the most important component avoiding stunting was determined by multiple linear regression. Pregnant participants in the study had better understanding of stunting behaviors (p = 0.009) and prevention (p = 0.019). It's interesting to note that there was no statistically significant improvement in knowledge scores overall (10.08 to 10.52; p = 0.053). Subsequent investigation showed that whereas pre-intervention behavior scores did not significantly affect improvement in prevention knowledge (p = 0.786), pre-intervention knowledge (p = 0.011) was the most significant factor driving this change.