Effect Of Web-Based Health Education About Dietary Habits Among School Children

Abstract

Background: Sufficient nutrition is essential for well-being, health, and development among school-aged children. Malnutrition, involving underweight and obesity. Malnutrition exhibits a worldwide public health problem. It emphasizes the vital need for successful nutritional education. Web-based modules are a favorable approach to providing nutritional education. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing a web-based module on knowledge and practice regarding nutrition among school children. Method: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 41 schoolchildren by using the convenience sampling technique. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 15 experts. Four online questionnaires were used for data collected to assess demographic data, knowledge, and dietary habits. A Delphi survey checklist was used to develop consensus for web-based education sessions. The intervention's effect was evaluated at pre-test, post-test, and three-month follow-up. Results: The results displayed a statistically significant increase in nutrition knowledge and practice scores across the three times of data collection (P ≤ 0.05). Students' knowledge level was poor among 95.1% in the pretest, converted to good level among 95.1% in the post-test, and continued good at follow-up among 73.2% of students. Proper total dietary practice improved from 0% pre-test to 100% at follow-up. Both experts and students provided strongly positive feedback on the module's quality, design, and usability. Conclusion: The web-based module is a reliable and highly accepted educational tool that successfully improved and sustained nutrition-related knowledge and dietary practices among school children. Recommendations: Key recommendations include immediately integrating nutritional health education into the curriculum and conducting a long-term study to measure the sustainability of improved dietary habits