Effect of Nutrition Counseling Knowledge and Attitude Toward Mother breastfeeding and Baby Growth in Sub Lubuk Pakam

To implement exclusive breastfeeding program, mothers should have a good knowledge. One way to gain knowledge is by providing nutritional counseling.
This study aimed to determine the effect of nutrition counseling toward exclusive breastfeeding and nutritional status toward the knowledge and attitude of
breastfeeding mothers in Lubuk Pakam Subdistrict Primary Health Care. This study was a quasi experimental with non-equivalent control group design.
Samples of 60 mothers were divided into two groups, that were 30 mothers who received intensive nutrition counseling at the intervention group in Lubuk
Pakam Primary Health Care work area and 30 mothers at control group in Tanjung Morawa Primary Health Care work area. The intervention group was given
nutrition counseling intervention for three months provided in three sessions. The study was conducted in March-August 2016. The statistical analysis
used t-test. The results showed that before intervention, knowledge and attitude in both groups did not differ consecutively with p value = 0.290 and p value
= 0.658, after intervention both knowledge and behavior were significantly different p value = 0.001. While the average weight gain in infants in the first month
was 1.25 kg in intervention group, 1.19 kg in control group , and in the second month was 1,44 kg in intervention group and 1 kg in control group in average.
Paired t tests show that there is effect of nutritional counseling toward knowledge and attitude in the intervention group.