Abstract:
Purpose : To assess the effect of education interventional program by previously developing ane education material (booklet of anemia and supplement reminder) upgrade dietary and iron-folic acid te intake of anemic pregnant women in province Aceh. Patients and methods: It was quasi experimental study using a pre- and posttest design, purposively applied at two municipalities having more than 40% anemic pregnancy. The intervention group (n=70) received two home visits for individual counseling session and was given the paper-based reminder, the control group (n=70) followed the usual antenatal care. The knowledge regard anemia and nutritional anemia score, average daily iron intake according to three days of 24-hours food recall, food frequency questionnaire score of animal and plant iron-rich food, number of iron-folic acid intake, hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration, baby’s birth weight of both groups were measured. A Chi-square, Student’s t-test, Wilcoxon ranked test, Man Whitney U test, Ancova test were used to compare the differences of within and between groups across the time measurements. Results: After the intervention program, there was significant improvement of knowledge score, average daily iron intake (mg/day), food frequency questionnaire score, number of iron-folate intake, hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration in intervention group compared with control group (P<0.005). All anemic pregnancies in intervention group recovered during their third trimester of gestation, differently in the control group where 92.8% anemic pregnancies remained and three babies were delivered with low birth weight. Conclusion: Findings suggest to do education and implementation of reminder were an effective approach to support dietary and iron-folate intake behavior changes.
