Sopia Nur Saindah

The Power of Visual Learning: Audio-Visual Health Education to Combat Stunting in Toddlers

Introduction

The power of visual learning: audio-visual health education to combat stunting in toddlers. Discover how audio-visual health education significantly boosts mothers' knowledge about combating stunting in toddlers. An effective visual learning strategy.

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of health education using audio-visual media on mothers' knowledge about stunting in toddlers. Methodology: The research was quantitative, using a pre-experimental design with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample consisted of 34 mothers with toddlers in Sitardas Village. Main Findings: The results of the study showed that the average score of mothers' knowledge about stunting before health education using audio-visual media was 6.12 and after health education using audio-visual media, there was an increase in knowledge of 9.18. Based on analysis using the Wilcoxon test, a p-value of 0.000 was obtained, which means there is an effect of health education using audio-visual media on mothers' knowledge about stunting in toddlers. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research is novel in that it examines the effectiveness of audiovisual media in health education for mothers regarding stunting in toddlers. The use of interactive media provides a more engaging and understandable approach, potentially significantly increasing mothers' knowledge and becoming a more effective educational strategy at the community level.

Review

The study, "The Power of Visual Learning: Audio-Visual Health Education to Combat Stunting in Toddlers," addresses a critical public health issue by investigating the effectiveness of an audio-visual intervention to improve maternal knowledge about stunting. The chosen topic is highly relevant, given the persistent global challenge of childhood stunting, and the abstract clearly states a focused aim: to assess the impact of audio-visual health education on mothers' knowledge. The methodology, a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design, is straightforward and appropriate for an initial exploration of such an intervention, demonstrating a clear attempt to measure change. The immediate increase in knowledge observed post-intervention represents a promising initial finding. The primary finding, a statistically significant increase in mothers' knowledge scores (from 6.12 to 9.18, p=0.000 via Wilcoxon test) after the audio-visual education, suggests a positive short-term impact on learning. While this finding is encouraging, the methodological design presents several limitations that temper the robustness of the causal inference. The absence of a control group in a one-group pretest-posttest design makes it difficult to definitively attribute the observed knowledge gain solely to the audio-visual intervention, as other confounding factors (e.g., history, maturation, or simply the effect of repeated testing) cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, the small sample size of 34 mothers from a single village (Sitardas) significantly limits the generalizability of these findings to broader populations or other geographical contexts. The abstract also mentions "interactive media" in the novelty section but only "audio-visual media" elsewhere, raising a question about the specific nature and interactivity level of the intervention, which could influence its effectiveness. The declared novelty of examining the effectiveness of audiovisual media for stunting education in mothers, particularly in the context of potentially "interactive media," has merit in its specific application. If the intervention truly leverages interactive elements, it could offer a more engaging and effective approach than passive viewing, with practical implications for community-level health education strategies. However, to advance this important work, future research should address the identified methodological shortcomings. This includes employing a more robust design, such as a randomized controlled trial, to strengthen causal claims, and recruiting a larger, more diverse sample to enhance generalizability. Moreover, while knowledge improvement is a valuable intermediate outcome, subsequent studies should explore the long-term retention of this knowledge, its translation into improved practices, and ultimately, its impact on the reduction of stunting prevalence. Investigating the cost-effectiveness and scalability of such interventions would also be crucial for their sustainable implementation.

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