Nutrition Education Intervention to Enhance Complementary Feeding Practices Among Infants in Southern Ethiopia

Texas Tech University

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Infant Malnutrition

Treatments: Behavioral: Nutrition education intervention to enhance complementary feeding practices

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04504617

IRB2019-664

Details and patient eligibility

About

Child undernutrition is a worldwide public health problem that has persisted in African countries. For instance, the most recently reported prevalence rates of stunting (38%), underweight (24%), and wasting (10%) among children under the age of five in Ethiopia is higher than the global prevalence. The causes of undernutrition are classified in the following manner: immediate causes, such as inadequate dietary intakes; underlying causes, such as household food insecurity and inadequate care and feeding practices; and basic causes, which involve the household's inadequate access to education, employment, and income, among others. Evidence has demonstrated that nutrition education interventions (NEI) may influence both underlying and immediate causes of child undernutrition. For instance, nutrition education interventions have the potential of preventing the underlying causes of child undernutrition by improving mothers' knowledge in care and feeding practices, and further improving the quality and quantity of dietary intake, which is considered an immediate cause of child undernutrition. Moreover, nutrition education interventions designed to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, such as dietary diversity, frequency, and adequacy, are considered a high impact strategy that may substantially reduce stunting. Preliminary data from Hawassa University (collaborating institution in this project) demonstrated that approximately 86% of the children residing in Arsi Negele, Wondo Genet, and Dale districts in Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' (SNNP) regions in Ethiopia do not receive adequate complementary feeding practices. Such lack of optimal complementary feeding practices may compromise a child's growth, development, and survival. Therefore, there is a critical need for improving child complementary feeding practices to promote their well-being and adequate nutritional status. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to improve child feeding practices and related nutritional status by improving the mother's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of complementary feeding practices for their children aged six to 23 months in three woredas located in Oromia and SNNP. It is hypothesized that after the NEI mothers will improve their children' dietary diversity, frequency and adequacy.

Full description

Elegibility criteria: residents that have lived in Arsi Negele, Wondo Genet, and Dale districts for at least one year, households that have children between 6 and 23 months of age, households where the mother is permanently presents, and households that speak sidamo or oromio.

Exclusion criteria: residents that have lived in Arsi Negele, Wondo Genet, and Dale districts for less than one year, households that have children under 6 months or above 23 months of age, households where the mother is not present, and households that do not speak sidamo.

Outcomes of this study are child feeding practices knowledge, attitudes, dietary diversity score, meal frequency score, adequacy diet score, continuing breastfeeding, maternal dietary diversity, and prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight.

Enrollment: 180 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 23 months old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Infant that live in a household that has reside in Arsi Negele, Wondo Genet, and Dale districts for at least one year
• Infants that are within the age of 6 to 23 months at the time of the recruitment
• Infants that live in households where the mother is permanently present
• Infants that live in a household where the mother speaks sidamo or oromio.

Exclusion criteria

• Infants that live in a household that has reside in Arsi Negele, Wondo Genet, and Dale districts for less than one year
• Infants that are under 6 months or above 23 months of age at the time of the recruitment
• Infants that live in households where the mother is not present
• Infants that live in households where the mother does not speak sidamo or oromio
• Infants that have an illness that require a special nutrition treatment

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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180 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

This group will consist of six kebeles with a total of 90 pairs of mothers and their children that will receive the nutrition education intervention to enhance complementary feeding practices first. The six lessons will be delivered in a period of 6 weeks. Before the intervention this groups will be assessed with the baseline assessment. After the intervention, this group will be assessed in three time points (post-intervention, follow-up 1 and follow-up 2).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Nutrition education intervention to enhance complementary feeding practices

Delayed Intervention Group

Active Comparator group

Description:

This arm will consist of the six kebeles with a total of 90 pairs of mothers and their children that will not receive the intervention immediately. This group will first complete the baseline and the second assessment. After the second assessment, this group will receive the nutrition education intervention to enhance complementary feeding practices. After the intervention, this group will be assessed in two additional time points (post-intervention and follow-up 1).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Nutrition education intervention to enhance complementary feeding practices