Project DINE: Addressing Disparities in Nutrition and Maternal Mortality and Morbidity through Nutrition and Father Engagement.

Abstract

This study assessed the outcomes of an intervention (Project DINE) that added nutrition and breastfeeding education to Healthy Start programs in Georgia for a sample of Black expecting parents. Using a community-based participatory approach and a 2 × 2 randomized cluster factorial design, three of six Healthy Start sites were intervention sites. Participants completed the Adult Food and Physical Activity Behavior Questionnaire and a breastfeeding education survey pre- and post-intervention. Paired t-tests determined that there was an improvement in overall self-reported diet quality among the expecting couples (n=61; p = .025). Breastfeeding survey data showed that the percentage of correct answers increased from 78% to 84% (n=89; p=.0009) for all participants. Qualitative data were also collected through open-ended responses on the breastfeeding post-test (n=66) and focus groups with fathers (n=10). This project demonstrates the need for nutrition and breastfeeding education for both expecting parents during pregnancy to improve maternal health.