The Relationship between Nutritional Intake and Mother's Education Level with the Nutritional Status of Children with Special Needs

Abstract

Children between the ages of 7 and 15 are considered to be of school age, and this is also an age period in which there is often a significant increase in children's growth and development. But tragically, some kids don't grow and develop normally, and they are the ones that are labelled as "special needs." This child has serious metabolic problems, which may affect their ability to absorb nutrients. The study's overarching goal is to learn more about the links between maternal diet, nutritional knowledge, and children's health and development. This study fits the criteria for what is known as a cross-sectional study. A total of 32 participants participated in this study's sample. This research used a food-record questionnaire, a mother-nutrition knowledge exam, and a respondent-characteristic questionnaire. The findings showed that there was no significant relationship between children's food intake and mothers' nutritional knowledge with the nutritional status of students aged 7-15 years. The results of Spearman's Rank correlation test indicate that there is no relationship between dietary intake and health. Spearman's Rank correlation analysis yielded the same result, indicating that maternal nutritional literacy did not correlate with child growth and development.