ABSTRACT
@#Nutrition education on healthy eating during childhood plays an important role in ensuring healthy growth process of children. One method of doing so is by using age-appropriate education tools. This cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study was to assess the effectiveness of interactive book, which had its content appropriateness assessed, as an education tools in improving knowledge level on healthy diet among preschoolers. 116 subjects aged 4-6 years (60±10 months) were recruited and randomly grouped into intervention group and control group (each with 58 subjects) from five kindergartens in Bangi, Selangor where only those subjects from intervention group were exposed to the interactive book prepared prior to this study. A same set of questionnaires, with a total score of 32, was used to assess changes in subjects’ knowledge levels at Pre-test (before intervention), Post-test I and Post-test II (one-week after Pre-test), where Post-test I only involved subjects from intervention group. At Pre-test, the intervention group scored 25±5, while the control group scored 26±4. After intervention, mean score for intervention group increased to 29±4 for both Post-test I and Post-test II; whereas it remained relatively unchanged for control group for Post-test II (26±5). Significant increase in knowledge level (p<0.001) was found in intervention group, both after intervention and effect of group*time, compared to control group (p=0.077). Hence, this study proved that interactive book could potentially be an effective education tool in nutrition education and improving knowledge level on healthy diet among preschoolers and children.
ABSTRACT
@#Sufficient intake of macronutrients and micronutrients are essential for child growth. Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) however are reported to be picky eaters which may lead to malnourishment. As diet and behaviour are importantly interconnected, this study aims to determine the level of knowledge on nutrition among parents and special educators of children with ASD. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a National Autism Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May to August 2018. A 37-item questionnaire was self-administered to the respondents who attended series of training of trainers’ sessions. The data was the collected and analysed descriptively. A total of 209 respondents participated with 153 parents and 56 special educators of children with ASD. Only 37.9% of the parents agreed that their children’s diet contain balanced nutrition. Majority of the parents and special educators had the perception that sugar, junk food and gluten are bad for the children but they were still given due to the accessibility and convenience. The low level of knowledge among parents and special educators about the nutrition of children with ASD indicates that a measure should be taken to increase the awareness and to overcome the malnutrition among ASD children.