Nutrition information-seeking behaviour of Indonesian pregnant women

Abstract

Objective: To investigate Indonesian pregnant women's experiences in seeking and receiving nutrition information.

Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews analysed with thematic analysis.

Setting and participants: Twenty-three pregnant women in Malang City, Indonesia were interviewed between December 2018 and January 2019.

Findings: Four key themes emerged concerning pregnant women's nutrition information-seeking behaviour: (i) Most women passively received nutrition information rather than actively seeking it; (ii) Women sought and received nutrition information from multiple sources including health professionals, social networks and the Internet, with varying levels of trust; (iii) Health professionals, including doctors, midwives and nutritionists, did not provide consistent and timely information; and (iv) Most women could identify gaps between nutrition information provided by health professionals and their expectations.

Key conclusions and implications for practice: This study identified opportunities for Indonesian health authorities to enhance their nutrition education services. This study suggests improvements that could extend the systematic provision of nutrition education to meet the needs of pregnant women in developing countries.

Keywords: Nutrition information; adult learning; food literacy; nutrition education; pregnancy.