The Effectiveness of Nutrition Education for Overweight/Obese Mother with Stunted Children(NEO-MOM) in Reducing the Double Burden of Malnutrition

Abstract:
(1) Background: In households experiencing the double burden of malnutrition, stunted children are in a better position for growth improvement when parents are able to direct their
resources to support nutrition requirements. This study assesses the effectiveness of maternal nutrition education to reduce child stunting. (2) Methods: This was a Randomized Controlled
Trial involving pairs of overweight/obese mothers with stunted children aged 2 to 5 years old in urban Indonesia. Methods: Seventy-one mother-child pairs were randomly assigned to receive
either a 12-week nutrition education or printed educational materials. Mixed factorial ANOVA was used to test for between-group differences over time in relation to child’s height, weight, maternal
self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and caloric intake. (3) Results: Across groups, there was a significant effect of time on child height and weight but no significant differences were observed
between-groups. Maternal self-efficacy, outcome expectations in providing animal protein for the children (p-value = 0.025) and mother’s total caloric intake (p-value = 0.017) favored the intervention
group over the comparison group. (4) Conclusions: The behavioral intervention produced strong improvement in maternal self-efficacy to engage in physical activity, eat fruits and vegetables and to
provide children with growth-promoting animal protein, but did not significantly influence child height gain.