Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-pn7tm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-15T19:24:22.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effectiveness of social marketing in improving knowledge, attitudes and practice of consumption of vitamin A-fortified oil in Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 December 2018

Daphne Chen Nee Wu*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Kitty Corbett
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Susan Horton
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Nadira Saleh
Affiliation:
Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Theobald CE Mosha
Affiliation:
Department of Food Technology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
*
*Corresponding author: Email daphne.wu@uwaterloo.ca
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of a social marketing intervention in enhancing knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) related to consumption of vitamin A-fortified oil.

Design

The intervention employed community events, distribution of educational materials and radio broadcasts. The intervention was assessed in a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group study design by collecting information on KAP regarding vitamin A-fortified oil consumption before and after 9 months of a 13-month intervention.

Setting

Six districts in Manyara and Shinyanga regions in Tanzania were non-randomly selected as the intervention districts and two districts served as the control districts.

Participants

At baseline, 568 lactating mothers with children aged <5 years were randomly selected from the intervention and control districts. Of these, 494 mothers were followed up at endline.

Results

After 9 months of intervention, knowledge of fortification and actual consumption of adequately fortified oil were significantly higher in the intervention districts compared with the control districts (P <0·05). Knowledge of the health benefits of vitamin A improved significantly from about 33 to 45 % in both the intervention and control districts. The major sources of information for women were health clinics and community health workers (CHW).

Conclusions

The study showed that a social marketing intervention is effective in improving KAP regarding fortified oil consumption at the household level. Clinics and CHW are channels that should be prioritized when communicating health messages, particularly those targeting women.

Information

Type
Research paper
Copyright
© The Authors 2018 
Figure 0

Table 1 Social marketing benchmark criteria and how each benchmark was met in the Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017

Figure 1

Table 2 Domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and domains addressed in the design and implementation of the Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017

Figure 2

Table 3 Sociodemographic characteristics of mothers in intervention and control districts at baseline of the Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017 (n 568)

Figure 3

Table 4 Knowledge and attitudes towards vitamin A among mothers in intervention and control districts at baseline and endline of the Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017 (n 494)

Figure 4

Table 5 Self-reported use of fortified oil among those who heard about vitamin A and source of information that the oil is fortified among those who reported using fortified oil after the intervention, Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017 (n 392)

Figure 5

Table 6 Retinol level in oil consumed by households after the intervention, Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017 (n 481)

Figure 6

Fig. 1 Sources of vitamin A information among women who had heard of vitamin A in the intervention and control districts of the Masava project conducted in Manyara and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania, February 2016–March 2017 (n 392)

Figure 7

Table 7 The 4Ps of social marketing(29)

Supplementary material: PDF

Wu et al. supplementary material

Wu et al. supplementary material 1

Download Wu et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 164.3 KB