Path of Science: International Electronic Scientific Journal

Lack of dietary variety among breastfeeding women in Nigeria is linked with inefficient maternal health and morbidity among babies. This paper will assess the efficiency of a community-based nutrition education intervention on maternal dietary diversity and infant diarrhoea rates. The study was a quasi-experimental trial in which 200 lactating mothers (0-6 months postpartum) from four Primary Health Care centres in Nigeria (Lagos and Oyo States) participated between January 2024 and December 2024. The intervention group (n=100) received an 8-week structured dietary education program focused on locally available nutrient-rich foods. The control group (n=100) received regular postpartum care. The main variables of interest were maternal food diversity, evaluated using the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women index, and infant diarrhoea cases, determined via 3-month recall. Paired t-tests and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyse the data.

After the intervention, the intervention group showed significant improvement in average dietary diversity score 4.2+-1.1 to 6.5+-0.8 (p<0.001) relative to the controls (4.1+-1.0 to 4.3+-1.1, p=0.09). Sufficient dietary diversity (5 groups of foods) rose to 82% of the intervention group as compared to 36% and 41% of controls (p<0.001). In the intervention group, infant diarrhoea rate decreased by 24% to 14% (p=0.02), compared with 22% to 20% in the controls (p=0.45). Infants in the intervention group were 48% less likely to have diarrhoea (adjusted OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.28-0.96, p=0.04) after adjustment for confounders.

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