Effect of Nutritional Intervention on Growth of Infants Accompanying Their Mothers in Prison

Abstract

Infants who accompanied their mothers in prison were vulnerable to the consequence of malnutrition. So, a nutritional intervention program for those infants who deprived of outdoor facilities is a subject of interest. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of nutritional intervention on the growth of infants accompanying their mothers in prison. A quasi-experimental design was used (Pre and post-test). The study was conducted in Qanater Women's Prison in Egypt. A convenience sample of 30 mothers accompanying their infants in the above-mentioned setting was included. Three instruments were used: a structured interview questionnaire, an observational checklist, and anthropometric measurements. The findings of this study revealed that infant growth improved after the implementation of the nutritional intervention. In addition,, there were statistically significant differences regarding mother's knowledge and practices observed on posttest than on pretest. As well as, there were a positive correlation between mother's knowledge, practices, and infant growth. The study concluded that mothers gained more knowledge and had better practices on posttest following the adherence to nutritional intervention. In addition, their infants had better growth after the implementation of nutritional intervention. Therefore, it was recommended that nurse‟s officers should provide mothers in prison with periodical nutritional intervention to sustain their infants' growth. Special provisions must be in place to ensure that the child‟s rights are promoted and protected whilst in prison, Child welfare, rather than prison authorities, should have primary responsibility for making decisions regarding children in prison, and specialists in social work and child development should supervise their care.