491
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, N
0
61, 2010 USING THE MODEL “MEALS SEEN AND PRACTISED” FOR THE
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF MALNUTRITION OF ETHNIC
MINORITY CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OLD IN PHU DO COMMUNE,
PHU LUONG DISTRICT,THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE
Nguyen Minh Tuan
Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy
SUMMARY
An intervention using the model “Meals seen and practised” was organized regularly at
San Chay households with children under 5 years old in Thai Nguyen Province. The results
showed that families with children under 5 years old contributed their time and efforts actively, as
well as sharing resources such as 652.9 kg of foods for preparation of complementary food for
children. Mother’s nutrient knowledge and practice was clearly improved (Good knowledge:
44.3%, good practice: 35.4%). The prevalence rate of underweight malnutrition in San Chay
children under 5 years old decreased to 32.1% from 41.6% as found in the previous survey.
(p<0,05).
Key words: Malnutrition, San Chay ethnic minority, complementary food, “Meals seen
and practised”.

1. Introduction
Guiding preparation of complementary food for children is one of the key
contents in prevention and control of children’s malnutrition in the community. Normally,
this activity is deployed in the style of a demonstration at the community health center.
Therefore, the information of caring for and bringing up children is transmitted to the

Food Amount
Protein
(g)
Lipid
(g)
Glucose
(g)
Energy
(kcal)
Ordinary rice (g) 50 3.95 0.50 38.10 172.0
Pork (g) 20 3.80 1.40 0.00 27.8
Sauropus (g) 20 1.06 0.00 0.68 7.0
Fat (g) 10 0.00 9.96 0.00 89.6
Fish sauce (ml) 10 0.71 0.00 0.00 2.8
Papaya (g) 100 1.00 0.00 7.70 35.0
Total 10.52 11.86 46.48 334.2
Percentage (%) 12.6 31.9 55.5 100.0
2.4. Data collection methods
Mothers were directly interviewed using a set of questionnaires regarding KPC
(Knowledge, Practice, Coverage) and to sort out knowledge and practice basing on the
cut-off of 75% of total points. 493
To measure the anthropometry of children under 5 years old and then to compare
with the reference population of NCHS.
2.5. Data processing and analysis: Anthropometry data were processed by
Epinut and then exported to SPSS 13.0 to analyze interventional effectiveness with 
2


Average number
of times/ 1
mother and child

(n = 237)
Egg boiled rice flour/porridge 45 640 2.7
Meat boiled rice flour/ porridge 54 735 3.1
Fish boiled rice flour/gruel 32 521 2.2 494
Crab boiled rice flour/ porridge 26 379 1.6
Shrimp boiled rice flour/ porridge 21 308 1.3
Soya curd boiled rice flour/ porridge 19 332 1.4
Liver boiled rice flour/porridge 16 213 0.9
China squash boiled rice
flour/porridge
13 166 0.7
Peanut boiled rice flour/ porridge 9 142 0.6
Total 235 3436 14.5
Note: Every practice, rice flour or porridge were cooked with the same materials
The kinds of complementary food were varied, and the highest number of
children attending a meal was when boiled rice flour/ meat porridge, egg porridge, fish
porridge were prepared. On average, every mother practised preparation of
complimentary meals 14.5 times with different materials. Regardless of the number of
times “Meal seen and practised” was practiced, it contributed to improving the San
Chay children’s daily meals.
Table 4. Change in quality of complementary meal in children over 6 months old
Ration of 24 h
Before
495
Table 5. Change in the San Chay mother’s young child feeding practices and knowledge
Norm
Before intervention After intervention
p
(
2
test)
(n = 231) (%) (n =237) (%)
Mother with good
knowledge
62 26.8 105 44.3 <0.01
Mother with good practice 51 22.1 84 35.4 <0.01
Through practising “Meal seen and practised”, the rate of mothers with good
knowledge on nutrition increased to 44.3% from 22.1% (p<0.01).
Table 6. Malnutrition prevalence rate in the San Chay children under 5 years old before and
after intervention
Malnutrition form

Before intervention After intervention
p
(
2
test)
(n =231) (%) (n =237) (%)
Underweight 96 41.6 75 32.1 <0.05
Stunting 101 43.7 100 42.2 >0.05
Wasting 25 10.8 17 7.2 >0.05

mothers on nutrition increased to 44.3% from 26.8% and a good child feeding practices
increased to 35.4% from 22.1% (table 5). Through “Meals seen and practiced,” the
mothers directly saw their children were fed better, and therefore the mothers adopted
these child feeding practices at home using these foods. The survey of rations in 24
hours showed that the quantity and quality of children’s complementary meals had
improved since before the intervention. The number of times a minimum
complementary meal was given according to recommendation for each age-group
reached 58.2%. The meal was prepared from kinds of plant foods, and foods derived
from protein- rich animals and β-caroten- rich vegetables and fruits. The average dietary
diversity increased to 4.181.48 from 3.241.11 among 8 food groups recommended by
the WHO. The final efficacy and the importance was that the malnutrition prevalence in
children under 5 years old was remarkably reduced in the underweight type, from
41.6% to 32.1% (p<0.05), while the stunting and wasting types were changed less than
before intervention. The mean decrease of 6.3% of underweight type malnutrition per
year in this study were consistent with the laws of malnutrition, decreasing quickly in
the area with the high malnutrition rate like the studies conducted by Hoang Khai Lap
(8%/year), and Pham Van Hoan (6.3%/year).
The practices of “Meals seen and practised” werealternately organized at
households, the activities were equitable and improved participant’s responsibility. This
approach was advantageous because it used the household’s material resources such as a
place, fuel, tools for nutrient practices and food sources available. Therefore, it
overcame some existing difficulties of the nutrition program which has been deployed
commonly in the commune level, the program’s activities depended wholly on the state
budget and so that the program activities only were conducted at the commune health
center under a form “performance of complementary meal”. The appropriate utilization
of human resources available not only broke participant’s dependence but also improved
the community’s awareness about child feeding and care as well as considering
sustainability
5. Conclusion
5.1. The model “Meals seen and practised” alternately organized at households

children’s nutrition status through a feasible intervention in disadvantaged,
rural area in Quang Binh”, Journal of Nutrition and Food, 4(2), (2008), 33-39.