By Mbah, Bridget Obioma
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a nutrition education intervention for improved child feeding and care giving behaviours of rural mothers of poor farm households of Enugu State, Nigeria, using a positive deviant approach. A cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative survey (using an experimental design) was conducted to identify positive deviant mother-child pairs and their uncommon feeding and care practices. A multistage sampling technique was used in the selection of 198 households. Three communities were randomly selected from the seven autonomous communities in Eha-Amufu. Census of the households residing in the 3 randomly selected communities was conducted to identify 66 eligible households (i.e households with young children 6-24 months of age that is not the only child). Focus group discussion (FGD) and structured questionnaire were used to assess the nutrition knowledge, food related beliefs, child care practices and needs of the mothers. Anthropometric measurements (weights and heights) of the infants were obtained using standard procedures. Based on the results of the nutritional assessment, the community with the most malnourished children was identified and selected for intervention. Positive and non-Positive Deviants (PD and NPD) mothers in the community were also identified.