Date of this Version

7-27-2023

Document Type

DNP Project

Abstract

Abstract: There is evidence that the number of cases of hyperlipidemia and diabetes in children is increasing along with the prevalence of childhood obesity in low- and high-income countries. Several factors may influence the dietary management of chronic conditions in children and adolescents, including the perceptions and beliefs of parents and caregivers about the conditions and their role in treating them. Shifting the focus of obesity, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes prevention interventions to the early education of parents has the potential to change children’s dietary habits significantly and decrease their risk of suffering from these chronic conditions. Ab important goal of this Quality Improvement project was to initiate an educational program that addresses community dietary management and the prevention of chronic conditions such as hyperlipidemia and diabetes. METHODS: The parents of pediatric patients diagnosed with hyperlipidemia and diabetes were administered as a pre- and post-test the Revised General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ), which consists of four domains of nutrition knowledge: dietary recommendations (DR), sources of nutrients in food (SON), knowledge of healthy food choices (HFC), and diet, disease, and weight management (DDWM). The scores were tabulated for each section to obtain a total score (T0 and T1). RESULTS: The total and individual section scores for the pre-test (T0 = 60%) and post-test (T1= 69.55%) for the GNKQ. The mean overall GNKQ score including the pre- and post-test values for the parent participants was 57.00 (± 8.85), representing 64.77%. CONCLUSION: The results indicated improvement in the participating parents’ overall nutritional knowledge after the implementation of nutritional education in this Quality Improvement project. These sections measured knowledge of the groups of food selection and the suggested serving sizes, sources of nutrients in food, and the correlation between diet and disease.

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