Abstract
Food hygiene is a key factor at the time of production and distribution of food. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the interventional role of education in changing the knowledge and attitudes of urbane mothers towards food hygiene in Ravansar Township, Kermanshah, Iran. To this end, 200 mothers residing in Ravansar Township were selected using simple random sampling. First, the subjects’ knowledge and attitudes towards food hygiene were evaluated in a pre-test, and then after holding some educational sessions, the two variables were assessed again in a post-test using a researcher-made questionnaire with 72 questions. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and content validity, respectively. After completing the questionnaires, the results were analyzed using the SPSS Statistical Software Version 21.0, and all tests were at the significance level of α = 0.05. The results of the present study demonstrated that education did not promote the knowledge of married subjects, those whose use of media was average or high, and the ones aged above 20 (P > 0.05). However, the results showed that education had significant effects on other factors (P < 0.05). In addition, it was revealed that the effects of education on promoting the attitudes of individuals aged above 60, those holding academic education and married subjects were not significant (P > 0.05), Nevertheless, the results revealed that education had significant effects on other factors (P < 0.05). Hence, it can be concluded that education plays a major role in changing the knowledge and attitudes of urban mothers towards food hygiene.