Effect of Health Belief Model based education on nutritional behaviors of pregnant women referred to health centers in Torbat-e-heydariyeh city

Background and Aims : Good nutrition is an important part of a healthy pregnancy. Appropriate nutritional education can have an important role in promoting maternal and child health. This work was performed to assess the effect of education based on Health Belief Model on nutritional behaviors of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: The current quasi-experimental study was conducted on 200 pregnant women referred to health centers in Torbat Heydarieh city. A two-stage cluster sampling method was used and selected cases were divided into intervention and control groups. A researcher made questionnaire was applied to the collection of required data and its validity and reliability were evaluated and confirmed in advance. Pre-tests were performed for both groups. Needed assessment was performed based on the pre-test results and educational interventions were implemented on intervention group. Time period of training course was one hour. Post-tests were carried out after one month using the same questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by the use of SPSS software. Mothers were informed regarding aim of research, freedom to leave the interview and the way that interview contents would be kept private before each intervention. Results: This study did not detect any evidence for significant difference in the average scores for knowledge, perceived benefits, barriers, susceptibility and severity, as well as self-efficacy between two groups (p>0.05) before intervention. After training, however, scores for all above mentioned variables were significantly increased in intervention group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that Health Belief Model-based nutrition education has a positive impact on the nutritional behavior of pregnant women and the perceived sensitivity have the most influence on behavior within the predictor variables. Keywords: Nutritional behavior; Health Belief Model; Pregnant women The results showed that Health Belief Model-based nutrition education has a positive impact on the nutritional behavior of pregnant women and the perceived sensitivity have the most influence on behavior within the predictor variables. Keywords: Nutritional behavior; Health Belief Model; Pregnant women