Assessment of the need and effectiveness for nutritional counselling through Swasthya Poushan webportal for mothers of under five in Mysuru
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20230646Keywords:
Under five, Mothers, Online, Counselling, WeaningAbstract
Background: Child growth and development is multifactorial influenced by the environment, living conditions, socio-demography and various other demographic factors. Infant feeding practices breastfeeding practices are important components to be addressed. Therefore, online counselling provides a good service for mothers to access useful information. Objectives of the study were: to assess the need and effectiveness of an online nutritional web portal for under five mothers, and to find the barriers in the usage of the website.
Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study, for a duration of one month. It was conducted in JSS urban primary health centre, under the department of community medicine in Medhar bloc. Necessary consents from the participants were taken. An online self-structured questionnaire was assessed pre and post the intervention. Study duration was for one month.
Results: The major findings from the study shows that only the educated class of mothers, i.e. 6 of the 30 mothers went through one round of online nutritional counselling. They did find counselling useful for further practices and there was an increase in their knowledge. Among those who didn’t access the website, they cited housework, not aware and discomfort with the website as their reasons not to use.
Conclusions: There is surely a need for online nutritional counselling for mothers with under five, as it will provide them quick access to valuable information regarding feeding. There are many barriers, one is awareness and education on website usage and linking it to the individual needs.
References
Stressing E, Bora JK. Under-five child growth and nutrition status: spatial clustering of Indian districts. Spatial Demography. 2020;8(1):63-84.
Meshram II, Rao KM, Balakrishna N, Harikumar R, Arlappa N, Sreeramakrishna K, Laxmaiah A. Infant and young child feeding practices, sociodemographic factors and their association with nutritional status of children aged< 3 years in India: Findings of the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau survey, 2011–2012. Public Health Nutrition. 2019;22(1):104-14.
Khan N, Mozumdar A, Kaur S. Determinants of low birth weight in India: An investigation from the National Family Health Survey. Am J Human Biol. 2020;32(3):e23355.
Sharma N, Gupta M, Aggarwal AK, Gorle M. Effectiveness of a culturally appropriate nutrition educational intervention delivered through health services to improve growth and complementary feeding of infants: A quasi-experimental study from Chandigarh, India. PloS One. 2020;15(3):e0229755.
Haycraft E, Witcomb GL, Farrow C. The Child Feeding Guide: A digital health intervention for reducing controlling child feeding practices and maternal anxiety over time. Nutrition Bulletin. 2020;45(4):474-82.
Mistry SK, Hossain MB, Arora A. Maternal nutrition counselling is associated with reduced stunting prevalence and improved feeding practices in early childhood: a post-program comparison study. Nutr J. 2019;18:47.
Weerasinghe MC, Senerath U, Godakandage S, Jayawickrama H, Wickramasinghe A, Siriwardena I, et al. Use of Mobile Phones for Infant and Young Child Feeding Counseling in Sri Lankan Tea Estates: A Formative Study. Qualitative Report. 2016;21(5).
Torlesse H, Benedict RK, Craig HC, Stoltzfus RJ. The quality of maternal nutrition and infant feeding counselling during antenatal care in South Asia. Maternal Child Nutrition. 2021;17(3):e13153.
Kimani-Murage EW, Griffiths PL, Wekesah FM, Wanjohi M, Muhia N, Muriuki P, et al. Effectiveness of home-based nutritional counselling and support on exclusive breastfeeding in urban poor settings in Nairobi: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Globalization Health. 2017;13(1):1-6.
Billah SM, Ferdous TE, Kelly P, Raynes‐Greenow C, Siddique AB, Choudhury N, et al. Effect of nutrition counselling with a digital job aid on child dietary diversity: Analysis of secondary outcomes from a cluster randomised controlled trial in rural Bangladesh. Maternal Child Nutrition. 2022;18(1):e13267.
Kavle JA, Landry M. Addressing barriers to maternal nutrition in low‐and middle‐income countries: A review of the evidence and programme implications. Maternal Child Nutrition. 2018;14(1):e12508.
Wit RF, Lucassen DA, Beulen YH, Faessen JP, Bos-de Vos M, Van Dongen JM, et al. Midwives’ experiences with and perspectives on online (Nutritional) counselling and mhealth applications for pregnant women; an explorative qualitative study. Int J Env Res Public Health. 2021;18(13):6733.
Guendelman S, Broderick A, Mlo H, Gemmill A, Lindeman D. Listening to communities: mixed-method study of the engagement of disadvantaged mothers and pregnant women with digital health technologies. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19(7):e7736.
Dimitrov DV. Medical internet of things and big data in healthcare. Healthcare Informatics Res. 2016;22(3):156-63.
