Impact of a school‐based nutrition educational intervention on knowledge related to iron deficiency anaemia in rural Karnataka, India: A mixed methods pre–post interventional study

Objective To understand the extent to which adolescent awareness about anaemia and anaemia prevention can be changed by nutrition messages received at school. Design Mixed-methods pre–post intervention study. Setting Three government schools in Bagalkot, Belagavi and Raichur districts of Karnataka, India. Population Students of grade six and seven and teachers involved in implementing the intervention. Methods An educational intervention was co-developed by school teachers and nutrition experts using locally adapted resource materials that consisted of lectures, role play and practical demonstrations. Seven half-hour educational sessions were delivered by school teachers over 7 weeks to 455 students. Pre- and post-intervention tests measured changes in adolescents' knowledge about anaemia. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers and focus groups with students explored their reactions to the intervention. Main outcome measures Knowledge score related to anaemia. Results The percentage of children with correct scores increased by 7.3–49.0 percentage points for the tested questions after implementation of the intervention. The mean knowledge score increased by 3.67 ± 0.17 (p