Primary school-based nutrition education intervention on nutrition knowledge, attitude and practices among school-age children in Ghana

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of a six-week nutrition education intervention on the nutrition knowledge, attitude, practices, and nutrition status of school-age children (aged 6-12 years) in basic schools in Ghana. Short-term effects of nutrition education training sessions on teachers and caregivers were also assessed. Pre-post controlled design was used to evaluate the program. Intervention groups had significantly higher nutrition knowledge scores (8.8 +/- 2.0 vs. 5.9 +/- 2.1,P< 0.0001) compared to controls in the lower primary level. A higher proportion of children in the intervention group strongly agreed they enjoyed learning about food and nutrition issues compared to the control group (88% vs. 77%,P= 0.031). There was no significant difference in dietary diversity scores (4.8 +/- 2.0 vs. 5.1 +/- 1.4,P= 0.184) or in measured anthropometric indices (3.6% vs. 8.2%,P= 0.08). A marginally lower proportion of stunted schoolchildren was observed among the intervention group compared to the control group (3.6% vs. 8.2%,P= 0.080). Nutrition knowledge of teachers and caregivers significantly improved (12.5 +/- 1.87 vs. 9.2 +/- 2.1;P= 0.031) and (5.86 +/- 0.73 to 6.24 +/- 1.02,P= 0.009), respectively. Nutrition education intervention could have positive impacts on knowledge and attitudes of school children, and may be crucial in the development of healthy behaviors for improved nutrition status.