Improving knowledge, attitude, and practices of complementary feeding using practical intervention training for parents living in central Lombok, Indonesia: A community-based study.

Background: Stunting remains a major public health concern in Indonesia despite many interventions. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of interventions in the form of education and demonstration on preparing complementary feeding (CF) to increase knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of CF among parents living in villages with high stunting prevalence in Central Lombok, Indonesia.

Materials and methods: This is a quasi-experimental community-based study, conducted from June to August 2019. Three villages were divided into three groups, i.e., control group (CG), education alone (EA) group, and education-cum-demonstration (ED) group. We assessed KAP before and after intervention with a 4-week interval.

Results: A total of 205 participants were enrolled in this study, consisting of 67, 70, and 68 participants in the CG, EA, and ED groups, respectively. In within-group analysis, parents' attitudes (P = 0.015) and practices (P = 0.014) improved in the ED group while only parents' practices (P = 0.034) improved in the EA group. In between-group analysis, parental attitude (P = 0.039) and practices (P = 0.008) improved in the ED group when compared to the CG. In the EA group, only parents' practices improved when compared to the CG (P = 0.006). There was no significant difference in KAP score in the EA and ED groups.

Conclusion: A combined approach of education and demonstration works better to promote healthy CF practices among mothers.