The impact of web-based education provided to parents on the nutritional risk of preschoolers: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of web-based nutrition education for parents of preschool children in reducing nutritional risk. The study was conducted in a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Parents of 3-5-year-old children from 11 preschools in Istanbul participated. They underwent a web-based nutrition education program. The NutriSTEP assessment tool was used to evaluate the nutritional risk score as a pretest assessment, followed by the training program. Posttests were conducted at 1- and 3-month intervals. Before the intervention, 55.8% of the children exhibited high nutritional risk. After the intervention, this percentage decreased significantly at the 1-month and 3-month follow-ups, with 94.2% and 93.6% of the children classified as low risk, respectively. The analysis also revealed significant associations between children's eating behaviours and factors such as maternal education, family income and family structure. As a result, web-based nutrition education was effective in reducing nutritional risk among preschool children. The findings underscore the importance of using technology for nutrition interventions, especially in diverse populations. The training program's simple, short and understandable video increased participants' interest in the training and encouraged regular follow-up. Web-based nutrition education for parents of 3- to 5-year-old children from 11 kindergartens in Istanbul significantly reduced children's nutritional risk. After the training, 94.2% of children were classified as low risk, highlighting the importance of technology-based nutrition interventions. image Web-based nutrition education significantly reduced the nutritional risk of preschool children, with high-risk cases dropping from 55.8% to less than 7% at the 3-month follow-up. Technology-based programmes offer flexible, accessible and effective solutions for parental involvement in child feeding, particularly in urban areas and at times when face-to-face access is limited. Parental education and socioeconomic factors, such as maternal education and family income, were strongly associated with child nutritional risk, highlighting the importance of tailoring interventions to different demographic groups.