(P24-056-23) Public Health Nutrition Intervention To Raise Parents’ Knowledge on Healthy Eating and Balanced Diet: A Pilot Intervention Based in Tbilisi, Georgia

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the family-based nutrition intervention to address malnutrition in children aged 6 to 12 living in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Methods: The nutrition intervention was conducted on 41 families of the primary public-school children living in Tbilisi. Parents were asked to complete two (2) online questionnaires (KAP and FFQ) before and after this pilot intervention. Over the 10-week intervention programme, parents had access to tailored nutrition educational online webinars on healthy nutritional requirements for their children focusing on food choices, habits, diet [increase intake of fruits and vegetables; decrease intake of high-fat, high-salt foods and sugar-content beverages; promote nutritionally adequate portion sizes]. The self-reported anthropometric measurements of children were compared before and after the intervention.

Results: The nutrition education webinars seemed effective in modifying behaviour and changing habits. The rise in parents’ nutritional knowledge was associated with an increase in BMI (kg/m²) in children, but within normal range (slight increase of the total mean of BMI Z-score by 0.07) without putting their children at risk of obesity (BMI percentile before 61.08, after 67.15). This detected improvement was linked to increased intake of fruit and vegetable daily consumption (fruit serving per day before 94.78g, after 191.85g; vegetable serving per day before 65.74g, after 143.45g) while fish consumption was doubled. Sugar and honey consumption by children was found to decrease after completion of nutrition education sessions (before 17.1%, after 0%). Parents’ awareness about malnutrition and nutrients deficiencies (e.g., iron, vitamin A) was significantly raised (P=0.001), especially knowledge related functional diet to prevent disease and enhance healthy lifestyle among children.

Conclusions: Upon successful completion of the online nutrition educational webinars parents tend to make healthier food choices for their children. This positive outcome justifies the next phase [scale-up intervention recruiting 400 families] to appraise the effectiveness of the nutritional awareness campaign and underpin parents pivotal role in improving health habits and dietary intake for their children, especially during early ages.

Funding Sources: Self-funded