Evaluation of the effectiveness of complementary feeding education in 6-24 month old children in family medicine specialization training

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate this education by giving training to family medicine residents about complementary feeding in children aged 6-24 months. Materials-Methods: The family medicine residents who agreed to take part in our study, which is an intervention study in the form of a pre-post control, received approximately 1 hour of training in 4 provinces. Before and after the training, a 40-question test was administered to the participants regarding the training content. Written feedback was received from the participants at the end of the training to evaluate the education. Results: A total of 113 physicians, 61.1% female, and 38.9% male, participated in our study. The ages of the participants were between 24 and 51, with a mean age of 29.01±4.75. 34.5% of the participants are married; 43.5% had children. Participants had been practicing medicine for an average of 4.06±4.61 (minimum=1; maximum=27) years. 46.9% of the participants were working in a city hospital, 10.6% in a training and research hospital, and 42.5% in a university hospital; 17.7% had previously received training on complementary feeding, 82.3% had not; 59.3% completed their pediatric rotation, 27.4% had not done it yet and 13.3% were still doing it. Participants got an average of 26.75 ± 4.88 correct points in the pretest; they got an average of 37.19 ± 2.74 correct from the last test. It was observed that the number of correct answers from the participants increased significantly after the training (p<0.001). The participants evaluated the training given with a 13-question training evaluation form, numbered from 1 to 5. The mean satisfaction was found to be 4.47±0.69. Conclusion: It was observed that the level of knowledge of physicians increased after the training given. It is necessary to repeat training to be given to family medicine residents about complementary nutrition in children aged 6-24 months at regular intervals and to increase the knowledge and awareness of physicians on the subject. Keywords: Complementary Feeding, Breastfeeding, Weaning, Family Medicine, Education