Skip to main content

Table 2 Nutrition knowledge, perceptions and dietary intake at baseline and at study end-point

From: Enhancing nutrition knowledge and dietary diversity among rural pregnant women in Malawi: a randomized controlled trial

Outcomes

Baseline

Study end-point

Control (n = 78)

Intervention (n = 68)

p-value

Control (n = 78)

Intervention (n = 68)

p-valuea

Knowledge of SFG (% yes)

 Staple

23.3

25.0

0.78

38.3

61.7

 < 0.01

 Animal Food

23.3

32.6

0.14

37.1

62.9

 < 0.01

 Vegetables

29.1

41.3

0.08

40.5

59.5

 < 0.01

 Legumes

21.4

26.7

0.43

38.1

61.9

 < 0.01

 Fruits

21.4

27.5

0.32

38.6

61.4

 < 0.01

 Fats

18.4

23.9

0.35

43.0

66.0

 < 0.01

SFG knowledge scores

 Mean (IQR) nutrition knowledge scores

0 (0–2)

0 (0–4)

0.52

3 (0–5)

6 (3–6)

 < 0.01

 Low scores (%)

82.5

73.6

0.28

62.1

26.4

 < 0.01

 Moderate scores (%)

5.8

11.0

 

14.6

15.4

 

 High score (%)

11.7

15.4

 

23.6

58.4

 

Nutrition perceptions (%)

 Know that pregnant women have high risk for malnutrition

80.6

80.4

0.87

81.6

91.3

0.05

 Perceptions of not being at-risk for malnutrition

26.2

28.3

0.75

23.2

9.8

 < 0.01

Median (IQR) dietary diversity scores

 SFG

4 (3–5)

4 (3–6)

0.35

5 (4–5)

5 (4–6)

 < 0.01

 MDD-W score

5 (4–5)

5 (4–7)

0.19

6 (5–6)

7 (5–8)

 < 0.01

Nutrition behaviour (% yes)

 Consumption of diversified foods frequently

26.2

25.0

.87

43.7

62.6

 < 0.01

 Missing main meals less frequently

29.1

28.3

0.89

55.3

78.3

 < 0.01

 Taking healthy drinks and snacks frequently

15.8

19.1

0.55

24.5

42.9

 < 0.01

 Eating whole grain frequently

21.4

22.8

0.81

65.7

90.1

 < 0.01

  1. aThe p-values relate to the differences between the two study groups The n varies due to missing/incomplete data
  2. IQR Interquartile range, SFG Six Food Group, MDD-W Minimum dietary diversity for woman