Evaluation of the impact of awareness intervention in promoting breastfeeding and child-feeding among tribal mothers of under-5 children in Jangalmahal region of West Bengal: Role of Theory of Planned Behavior.

Effectiveness of the 'Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)-Based Awareness Intervention' regarding breastfeeding and child-feeding promotion among tribal communities is rare in India. Breastfeeding and child-feeding behavior are determined by knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intention of mothers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of TPB-based awareness campaigns in improving breastfeeding and child-feeding among tribal mothers of Jangalmahal region in West Bengal. Total of 445 tribal mothers were included, of which 220 participants were from control group and 225 from experimental group. Two awareness camps were organized at six months intervals for experimental group only. The baseline data show no statistically significant difference in knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention and practice score between control and experimental groups. Age, antenatal visit, knowledge, attitude, subjective norms and intention were found as the predictors for breastfeeding and child-feeding practices. After the first intervention program, at midline, a significant difference (p<0.05) has been observed between control and experimental groups in all components of TPB-based model, except for attitude (p = 0.730). After the second intervention program, at endline, a significant difference has been noted in case of all components of TPB model. The main effect of time, interaction effect of time and group with-in-subject effect showed a good impact of intervention in changing knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intention. Good impact has also been observed for the components of TPB-model while considering between-subject-effect interventions. An increase in number of interventions will help to improve breastfeeding and child-feeding behavior in tribal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]