Evaluating the effectiveness of a nutrition-focused community-based intervention among adult women in the selected blocks of the Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh

Introduction: Poor dietary practices, unhealthy eating habits, and a lack of awareness about anemia remain significant public health challenges in India, especially among women of the reproductive age group. Sociocultural norms, limited access to information, and poor behavior practices further aggravate the issue. Therefore, addressing these challenges requires community-based interventions that not only disseminate knowledge but also aim to transform attitudes, social norms, and behaviors. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the community-based intervention in improving knowledge, attitudes, practices, and social norms among adult women in selected blocks of the Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods: The intervention was implemented across 120–150 villages, reaching around 25,000 women and girls from two intervention blocks. Cross-sectional baseline and endline surveys were conducted with randomly selected samples of 412 and 479 women, respectively. Data were collected using similar semi-structured questionnaires at both time points. A multivariate analysis of variance test was conducted to assess changes in key outcomes (knowledge, attitude, norms, and practices) and predictors (baseline or endline, age, ration cards, education, and family type). Data analysis was performed using STATA 16.0, with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of participants was 27 years at the baseline and 32 years at the endline. Significant improvements ( P < 0.0001) were observed in knowledge, attitudes, descriptive norms, intentions, injunctive norms, and perceived behavioral control scores at endline compared to baseline. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that community-based interventions can significantly enhance nutrition-related knowledge and behaviors among women. Future programs should focus on shifting norms and beliefs through long-term interventions to improve sustainability.