Pilot Psychoeducational Intervention Model to Improve Nutritional Status in Low Resource Settings
Condition: Child Malnutrition; Child Overnutrition; Malnutrition in Children; Malnutrition, Child; Nutrition Disorders, Child; Malnutrition
MeSH terms: Malnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Child Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to develop, implement and evaluate a psychoeducational
      intervention focused to improve nutritional status, specifically micronutrients, of mothers
      and caregivers of children between the ages of 5 and 13 years and their children through
      providing healthy cooking lessons in their communities.
    

Detailed description: 
      Mexico's malnutrition problem goes beyond lack of food. Nutrition transition in our country
      has modified dietary patterns in a way that now we observe more and more a decrease in
      consumption of micronutrient rich foods, like vegetables, and an increase in consumption of
      high energy-dense foods with low content of micronutrients (highly processed foods). In
      Mexico, over 70% of the population presents an inadequate vegetable intake, with a higher
      prevalence in scholars (5 - 11 years), where only 17% of them consume >50% of the recommended
      vegetable intake. A vegetable poor diet is related to malnutrition, poor cognitive
      development and low physical performance. Added to this, Mexican families have lost the
      tradition of cooking at home. It is well known that different factors contribute to a
      population's diet and cooking at home as well as eating with the family have been identified
      as fundamental factors to promote a healthy diet. Therefore, the aim of this
      psychoeducational intervention in nutrition is to improve nutritional status in families,
      particularly mothers and caregivers of children between the ages of 5 and 13 years and their
      children through providing healthy cooking lessons in their communities where the optimal
      preparation and use of local foods based on vegetables is promoted at the same time the
      importance of cooking at home and eating as a family is highlighted.
    

Intervention name(s): Psychoeducational intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): A mobile kitchen visits the 5 selected communities every 2 weeks for a period of 1 year. A 30 minute cooking lesson is given by a trained instructor, the recipes have been designed to be quick and easy to make, use local and inexpensive ingredients, contain mostly vegetables and have a good taste. During the lesson, healthy habit and cooking tips are mentioned. A printed version of the recipe is given to every participant. Every lesson a different participant is encouraged to help prepare the recipe. At the end of the lesson all the participants get to taste the meal and express their opinion.
Other intervention name(s): Psychoeducational intervention in nutrition
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: psychoeducational intervention; nutrition intervention; malnutrition; micronutrient deficiency; nutrition transition