Optimizing nutritional needs through education and local food utilization to improve mothers’ knowledge and awareness in bonelalo village

Abstract

Nutritional problems among pregnant women, toddlers, and children remain an important public health concern, particularly in rural areas where access to accurate nutrition information and routine growth monitoring may be limited. This community service program aimed to improve mothers’ knowledge and awareness regarding balanced nutrition and nutritional status monitoring through contextual education and the utilization of locally available foods in Bonelalo Village, Lasalimu District, Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. The program involved 43 participants consisting of pregnant women, mothers of toddlers, and mothers of children. Activities included pre-test assessment, interactive nutrition education, demonstrations of balanced food preparation using local ingredients, nutritional consumption assistance, and post-test evaluation. Before the intervention, 55.8% of participants had poor nutritional knowledge and 46.5% had low awareness of nutritional status monitoring. After the program, 34.9% demonstrated very good knowledge and 46.5% good knowledge, while 37.2% showed very good awareness and 41.9% good awareness. The proportion of participants with poor knowledge and awareness decreased to 4.6% in each category. The program also strengthened collaboration among the university, village government, health cadres, and local health services, supporting the continuity of nutrition promotion activities. These findings indicate that participatory nutrition education combined with local food demonstrations and community-based assistance can effectively improve mothers’ knowledge and awareness and may support sustainable efforts to prevent nutrition-related problems among mothers and children.