A two-arm pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among female adolescents in Northwest Ethiopia. Clusters were schools assigned into intervention and control groups by cluster randomization. The trial participants were female adolescents. The intervention was pulses-based nutrition education, and the comparator was the usual dietary practice of adolescent girls. The education was delivered over four weeks on a 45-60 min session per week basis. The primary outcome of the intervention was pulses-based food consumption, and the secondary outcomes were knowledge and attitude about pulses food. Data on the outcome and the confounding variables were collected at baseline and end-line of the intervention. The analysis was based on intention-to-treat analysis, and a log-binomial logistic regression model was fitted to the data to calculate relative risk with the corresponding p value adjusted for baseline characteristics. The intervention was considered effective when the p value was < 0.05.
A total of 269 intervention and 278 control participants from the four clusters completed the trial making response rates of 92.1% and 95.2%, respectively. The pulses-based nutrition education enabled participants in the intervention group to maintain their pulses-based food consumption state, while participants in the control group significantly reduced their consumption by about threefold [ARR; 95% CI 2.99 (1.87, 4.79)] from harvesting to non-harvesting season. The consumption of pulses-based food was higher by 16% among the intervention participants as compared to the control participants [ARD; 95% CI 0.16 (0.10, 0.21)].
Pulses-based nutrition education is effective in improving the consumption of pulses-based food among female adolescents. Therefore, policies and strategies are required to integrate this intervention in the school nutrition program.
The trial was registered in the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR202111813445259) on 02 November 2021.
方法:在埃塞俄比亚西北部的女性青少年中进行了一项双臂实用整群随机对照试验。集群是通过集群随机分配到干预组和对照组的学校。试验参与者是女性青少年。干预是基于脉冲的营养教育,比较是青春期女孩通常的饮食习惯。教育在每周45-60分钟的基础上进行了四个星期。干预的主要结果是基于豆类的食物消费,次要结果是对豆类食物的知识和态度。在基线和干预结束时收集结果和混杂变量的数据。分析基于意向治疗分析,并对数据拟合对数二项逻辑回归模型,以计算相对风险,并根据基线特征调整相应的p值.当p值<0.05时,干预被认为是有效的。
结果:来自四个集群的269名干预和278名对照参与者完成了试验,反应率为92.1%和95.2%,分别。基于脉冲的营养教育使干预组的参与者能够保持他们基于脉冲的食物消费状态,而对照组的参与者从收获季节到非收获季节的消费量显着减少了约三倍[ARR;95%CI2.99(1.87,4.79)]。与对照组相比,干预参与者中基于豆类的食物的消费量高出16%[ARD;95%CI0.16(0.10,0.21)]。
结论:以豆类为基础的营养教育可有效改善女性青少年对豆类食物的消费。因此,需要政策和战略将这种干预纳入学校营养计划。
背景:该试验于2021年11月2日在泛非临床试验注册中心(PACTR202111813445259)注册。