The Effectiveness of a Training Program to Develop Food Culture for Mothers of Mentally Handicapped Children in Najran

Abstract

Children with mental disabilities, especially those who are able to learn, should be helped to learn and practice some daily life skills on their own, including choosing food in quantity and quality due to the strong relationship between nutrition and mental development. And since the mother bears the greatest burden in caring for and feeding her children, especially those with mental disabilities, therefore she must have a sound food culture and awareness and knowledge of how to plan and implement healthy meals. Therefore, the research aimed to reveal the effectiveness of the training program in developing the nutritional culture of mothers of children with mental disabilities who are able to learn and who are present in schools of education in the Najran region. The training program was applied to (20) mothers of children with mental disabilities who are able to learn and they were divided into two groups (10) as an experimental group and (10) as a control group. A food culture awareness form and a training program for food culture development (prepared by the two researchers) were used.

The results showed: the effectiveness of the training program in the development of food culture among mothers of mentally handicapped children who are able to learn, as well as the continuity of its effectiveness in the post- and follow-up measurements.