Impact of nutrition education on knowledge and haemoglobin status of hill women in Uttarakhand State of India.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to examine the impact of the use of single vs. combination of media on nutritional knowledge and haemoglobin status of women in a rural hill area in Uttarakhand State, India. METHODS: Women from three villages were selected randomly and divided into three groups namely, print media group (n = 59), multimedia group (n = 53) and control group (n = 111). The print media group was exposed to nutrition education through the use of calendars on anaemia for 60 days; the multimedia group was given nutrition education through a combination of media including calendars, video films, and group discussions for 60 days. RESULTS: At pre-exposure stage, 62.7% of the women in the print media group, 67.9% of the multimedia group, and 66.7% of the control group had a low nutrition knowledge level. After exposure, the print media group and the multimedia group showed a significant rise in nutrition knowledge, with the multimedia group scoring significantly higher than the print media group. Overall, 69.1% of the women were anaemic with mean haemoglobin concentration of 10.74 +/- 0.86 g/dl. A non-significant rise in mean haemoglobin concentrations in the experimental groups was found at post-exposure stage. CONCLUSION: Calendars and video films are effective in increasing nutrition knowledge of illiterate hill women. Use of mass media programmes of longer duration should be encouraged to combat the nutritional problems of rural communities.