Perinatal Nutrition Program Effects

PROGRAM ON DIETARY HABITS OF MOTHERS AND INFANT BIRTH-WEIGHT

IN A SAMPLE OF PREGNANT NIGERIAN FEMALES

Guzman-de-Manrique (1986) has noted that in Third World countries, pregnant females are at high risk for a number of factors that can jeopardize pregnancy. These factors include: poverty, lack of education and knowledge about pregnancy; lack of adequate prenatal care; poor obstetric history; diseases pre-dating and/or during pregnancy; maternal genetic factors; parity; short inter-pregnancy intervals; and inadequate dietary habits (nutrition).

Any or all of the listed factors can result in infant mortality and the delivery of low birth-weight infants (Eschleman, 1991). One very successful way in which health care providers have responded to this increased risk is through the development and implementation of perinatal nutrition education programs (Guzman-de-Manrique, 1986). This study involves the design and implementation of one such program.

The critical issue of this study is the relevance of nutritional education for decreasing Nigerian females' risk for negative pregnancy outcomes such as low infant birth-rate and infant mortality. Several studies have reported success in preventing these negative outcomes as a result of nutritional counseling and education. For example, Musagier (1987) has noted that one of the major health care risk faced by Third World females is the abs

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rence materials on selected health topics relevant to developing countries, and it also discusses methods and aids for presenting such information to individuals or groups. Part IV, which is the section of the manual most relevant to the needs of this study, deals with four common community health problems: nutrition; maternal and child health; control of communicable diseases; and accidents--preventing and meeting emergencies. Six appendices are also included: (1) a discussion of how to construct a sample survey for the population; (2) examples of survey questions; (3) examples of six kinds of educational materials and aids; (4) a bibliography of sources of materials and information; (5) a vocabulary of words used in the manual; and (6) five preliminary guidelines regarding immunizations and health education. Durana (1980) also provides information which addresses nutrition education in developing countries. Specifically, Durana's book is intended to assist teachers, practitioners, and administrators to develop programs for training non-physician, primary health care workers in Third World countries. It contains the instructional context of a comprehensive training program, organized into chapters and presented in outline f
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4729
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page)