Effectiveness of instructional program on parents' knowledge toward dietary patterns for children with picky eating behavior at Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf City

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: Assess parents' knowledge up on dietary patterns for children with picky eating behavior before providing instructional program. Methodology: To achieve the aims of this study, this quasi-experimental design was conducted on children suffering from picky eating behavior assigned to study and control groups is used to study the effectiveness of instructional program on parents' knowledge toward dietary patterns for children with picky eating behavior at Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital. Questionnaires were developed to determine the effectiveness of the instructional program on parents' knowledge toward dietary patterns for children with picky eating behavior. The final instruments consisted of (4) parts First: concept of picky eating behavior in children (Includes four questions) Second: causes of picky behavior and dangerous factors (Includes eight questions) Third: symptoms of picky behavior  (includes six questions) Fourth: importance of a child's picky eating behavior diet (consists of seven questions) Fifth: ways to deal with the child picky eating behavior in food (contains seven questions) Sixth: therapeutic and guiding measures for picky eating children (has thirteen questions). Result: there is a non-significant difference in the study sample knowledge according to their residency, gender, child's age/years, and child's order in the family. Conclusion: Parents in the study group who received the dietary instructional program different views and experiences on overall behaviors and attitudes about mealtime and daily food, demonstrating that the dietary instruction had a positive impact on child behavior. Recommendation: Develop techniques to influence children's eating and general lifestyle habits while taking into consideration the environment and their family.