Effectiveness of Booklet-Based Nutrition Education on Maternal Behavior in Complementary Feeding: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Appropriate complementary feeding practices are essential to support child growth and development and prevent malnutrition. However, inadequate maternal knowledge, attitudes, practices, and self-efficacy remain major barriers to optimal complementary feeding in developing countries. Nutrition education is a key strategy to improve maternal behavior, and both printed and digital media have been widely used for this purpose. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of booklet-based and WhatsApp-based nutrition education in improving maternal knowledge, attitudes, practices, and self-efficacy regarding complementary feeding among mothers of infants aged 6–11 months. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest control group design was conducted among 50 mothers of infants aged 6–11 months in the working area of Kanjilo Public Health Center, Gowa District, Indonesia. Participants were assigned to either a booklet-based education group (n = 25) or a WhatsApp-based education group (n = 25). Data were collected using structured questionnaires before and after a 30-day intervention period. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to assess within-group changes, while the Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare changes between groups. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Significant improvements in maternal knowledge, attitudes, practices, and self-efficacy were observed within both the booklet and WhatsApp groups following the intervention (all p < 0.05). Although the booklet group demonstrated larger mean improvements across all outcome variables, between-group analyses did not show statistically significant differences in knowledge (p = 0.064), attitudes (p = 0.079), practices (p = 0.053), or self-efficacy (p = 0.072). Conclusion: Both booklet-based and WhatsApp-based nutrition education were associated with improvements in maternal knowledge, attitudes, practices, and self-efficacy regarding complementary feeding. Although the booklet group showed greater numerical improvements, no statistically significant differences were observed between the two educational approaches. These findings suggest that both delivery methods may be effective, and further studies with larger sample sizes and randomized designs are needed to determine potential differences in effectiveness.