The association between exposure to a radio campaign on nutrition and mothers’ nutrition- and health-related attitudes and minimal acceptable diet of children 6–36 months old: a quasi-experimental trial

Bernard Appiah; Mahama Saaka; George Appiah; Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko; Elfreda Samman; Laura Forastiere; Brenda AZ Abu; Abena A Yeboah-Banin; Irene A Kretchy; Freda D Ntiful; Christiana NA Nsiah-Asamoah; Md Koushik Ahmed; Christopher R France

doi:10.1017/S1368980024001319

Public Health Nutrition (Jan 2024)

The association between exposure to a radio campaign on nutrition and mothers’ nutrition- and health-related attitudes and minimal acceptable diet of children 6–36 months old: a quasi-experimental trial

Bernard Appiah,
Mahama Saaka,
George Appiah,
Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko,
Elfreda Samman,
Laura Forastiere,
Brenda AZ Abu,
Abena A Yeboah-Banin,
Irene A Kretchy,
Freda D Ntiful,
Christiana NA Nsiah-Asamoah,
Md Koushik Ahmed,
Christopher R France

Affiliations

Bernard Appiah: ORCiD; Research Program on Health Communication and Public Engagement (H-COPE), Department of Public Health, Falk College, Syracuse University, 150 Crouse Dr, 435A White Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Accra, Ghana
Mahama Saaka: ORCiD; Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, P O Box 1883, Tamale, Ghana
George Appiah: Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Accra, Ghana
Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko: Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Accra, Ghana National Blood Service Ghana, Research and Development, Korle-Bu, P.O. Box KB 78, Accra, Ghana
Elfreda Samman: Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Accra, Ghana Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, TX, USA
Laura Forastiere: Laura Forastiere, Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
Brenda AZ Abu: Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
Abena A Yeboah-Banin: Department of Communication Studies, School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Irene A Kretchy: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Freda D Ntiful: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Christiana NA Nsiah-Asamoah: Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
Md Koushik Ahmed: Research Program on Health Communication and Public Engagement (H-COPE), Department of Public Health, Falk College, Syracuse University, 150 Crouse Dr, 435A White Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Christopher R France: Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980024001319
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 27

Abstract

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Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a radio campaign involving serial 10-minute drama episodes, 10-minute on air discussion of each episode by trained community health workers and 30-minute phone-ins from listeners in improving mothers’ nutrition- and health-related attitudes (HNRAs) and children’s minimum acceptable diet (MAD). Design: A two-arm quasi-experimental trial with a pre-post design was used to quantify the effect of a radio campaign on nutrition before and immediately after the 6-month intervention. Difference-in-difference (DID) analysis was performed to assess the intervention’s effect. Setting: Saboba district (intervention) and Central Gonja (comparison district) of northern region of Ghana. Participants: At baseline, a total of 598 mothers with children aged 6–22 months were randomly selected from the intervention (n 298) and control (n 300) districts. At endline (6 months post-intervention), 252 mother–child dyads in the intervention district and 275 mother–child dyads in the control district were followed up. Results: The radio campaign was significantly and positively associated with a change in health- and nutrition-related attitudes (HNRA) over time, with DID in mean attitudes significantly improving more over time in the intervention district than the control (DID = 1·398, P < 0·001). Also, the prevalence of MAD over time in the intervention district was significantly higher than the control district (DID = 16·1 percentage points, P = 0·02) in the presence of food insecurity. Conclusions: The study indicates that a radio campaign on nutrition is associated with improved mothers’ HNRA and children’s MAD. Communication interventions on child nutrition targeting low-resource settings should consider this innovative approach.

Published in Public Health Nutrition

ISSN: 1368-9800 (Print); 1475-2727 (Online)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Medicine: Public aspects of medicine; Medicine: Internal medicine: Specialties of internal medicine: Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases
Website: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition

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