Integrating Nutrition Education & Household Food Production for Child Nutrition

NCT ID: NCT02249286

Last Updated: 2016-03-07

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 404 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2015-10-31

Brief Summary

In Ethiopia, a child-centered counseling approach is hypothesized to be more effective than the current nutrition and health education when investment on home-based food production is used as a platform for nutrition education. This project is proposed to evaluate the efficacy of a food-based package integrating child-centered nutrition counseling and home-based food production using a between-group comparative intervention study. The intervention comprises child-centered nutrition counseling for caretakers and support for 'developed' gardens and improved backyard poultry production.

Detailed Description

Growth faltering among Ethiopian infants and young children is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Nutrition education on infant and young child feeding has shown good potential to improve growth of young children whenever it is accessible, context-based and integrated with locally available resources. The current nutrition education in Ethiopia, however, appears to be general and lacks the essential components for success. It is mainly didactic and lacks a motivational approach that can enhance the self-efficacy of mothers for behavior change. Another important barrier for nutrition education to become effective is that rural mothers have limited access to nutrient-dense foods that are recommended to be fed to young children. Therefore, it is expected that low food access by poor households together with the less motivational approach used may hamper the effectiveness of the current nutrition education in the country. In Ethiopia, a child-centered counseling approach is hypothesized to be more effective than the current nutrition and health education when investment on home-based food production is used as a platform for nutrition education. This project is proposed to evaluate the efficacy of a food-based package integrating child-centered nutrition counseling and home-based food production using a between-group comparative intervention study. The intervention comprises child-centered nutrition counseling for caretakers and support for 'developed' gardens and improved backyard poultry production; whereas the control will only receive the agriculture extension and the existing health and nutrition education in the area. Two Primary Healthcare Units (one intervention and one control group) will be selected from Jimma Zone using relevant criteria. A total of 404 (i.e. 202 in each of intervention and control areas) households with infants of age < 12 months will participate in the study for 18 months. The efficacy of the intervention will be assessed by its effect on child growth and infant and child feeding index as primary outcomes. Besides the effect on dietary adequacy and growth, the project aims at evaluating the interactive processes in a longitudinal way to provide evidence on the possible success factors and barriers encountered. Therefore, secondary outcomes include household production, income and expenditure in relation to the home-based food production; diet diversity; feeding and care practices, and morbidity. Data will be compared between intervention and control groups using linear mixed-effects models and generalized linear models.

Conditions

Behavior

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Child Centered Nutrition Counseling

The intervention comprises child-centered nutrition counseling for caretakers and support for 'developed' gardens and improved backyard poultry production.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Child Centered Nutrition Counseling

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The intervention comprises child-centered nutrition counseling for caretakers and support for 'developed' gardens and improved backyard poultry production; whereas the control will only receive the agriculture extension and the existing health and nutrition education in the area

no intervention

Intervention Type: OTHER

the control will only receive the agriculture extension and the existing health and nutrition education in the area

No intervention

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Child Centered Nutrition Counseling

The intervention comprises child-centered nutrition counseling for caretakers and support for 'developed' gardens and improved backyard poultry production; whereas the control will only receive the agriculture extension and the existing health and nutrition education in the area

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

no intervention

the control will only receive the agriculture extension and the existing health and nutrition education in the area

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• infants less than 12 month
• are permanent residents in the area;
• have no plan to move away during the intervention period;
• are willing to adopt the agriculture activities; and
• have adequate place and time to adopt developed gardens & backyard poultry production

Exclusion Criteria

• infants with severe acute malnutrition warranting referral to nutrition rehabilitation program with Ready-To-Use Therapeutic foods
• severely ill infants with clinical complications warranting hospital referral; and
• infants with obvious congenital or chronic abnormalities that impair feeding or physical growth measurements.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 3 Months
• Maximum Eligible Age: 12 Months
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Nestlé Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR)

NETWORK

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Jimma University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Abebe Gebremariam

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Abebe Gebremariam, Professor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Jimma University

Alemayehu Argaw, Mr

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Jimma University

Lieven Huybregts, Dr

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Ghent

Patrick Kolsteren, Professor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Ghent

Mulusew Gerbaba, Mr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Jimma University

Solomon Demeke, Professor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Jimma University

Joep Grosemans, Mr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Provincial university college Limburg

Amanuel Tesfay, Mr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Jimma University

Other Identifiers

CCC-HFP

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id