Participation in a nutrition education program is associated with improved caregiver knowledge of healthful child feeding practices and improved dietary adequacy among underweight Ugandan children

To assess the impact of a 10‐week complementary feeding education program, supported by ready‐to‐use food, we compared two potential determinants of child nutrition status, caregiver awareness of nutrition education messages and children's diet adequacy, between post‐program caregiver‐child dyads (PP) and community controls (CC). PP dyads (n=50 education; n=61 diet adequacy) completed the program 1–3 months prior to the survey; CC group dyads (n=61) did not participate in the program, but were from the same villages as the PP group. PP caregivers demonstrated a broader recall of child feeding messages, based on an 11‐item index of key messages (mean score = 4.9 vs 0.8, p< 0.001, adjusted for demographic differences). PP children had greater Diet Diversity Scores (4.9 vs 3.8, p=0.005), mean daily feeding occasions (2.9 vs 2.6, p=0.086) and were more likely to consume animal source foods [67% vs 49%, OR (95% CI)=3.5 (1.1, 11.4), p=0.036)], and legumes and nuts [95% vs 69%, OR=6.9 (1.0, 46), p=0.046]. PP children were more likely to meet their DRI for energy, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and zinc. However, <10% of the total study sample met their AI for calcium and the micronutrient density of complementary foods did not differ between groups. Caregivers recalled nutrition education messages after the program ended and appear to have improved child‐feeding practices in ways that that persist after program completion. Supported by UNC Interdisciplinary Research and GSK Global Health Research Fellowships.