Intervention Effectiveness

Challenges in Implementing the Integrated Community-Based Outpatient Therapeutic Program for Severely Malnourished Children in Rural Southern Ethiopia. Currently, treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition is managed in the integrated Community based Outpatient Therapeutic Program (C-OTP) using ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). The aim of this study was to determine challenges in implementing the critical steps in […]

Role of Social Support in Improving Infant Feeding Practices in Western Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Study. BACKGROUND: We designed and tested an intervention that used dialogue-based groups to engage infants’ fathers and grandmothers to support optimal infant feeding practices. The study’s aim was to test the effectiveness of increased social support by key household influencers on improving […]

Niger’s Child Survival Success, Contributing Factors and Challenges to Sustainability: A Retrospective Analysis. BACKGROUND: Household surveys undertaken in Niger since 1998 have revealed steady declines in under-5 mortality which have placed the country ‘on track’ to reach the fourth Millennium Development goal (MDG). This paper explores Niger’s mortality and health coverage data for children under-5 […]

Public sector scale-up of zinc and ORS improves coverage in selected districts in Bihar, India. BACKGROUND: In Bihar, India, a new initiative to enhance diarrhea treatment with zinc and ORS in the public sector was rolled out in selected districts. We conducted an external evaluation to measure changes in diarrhea careseeking and treatment in intervention […]

Role of Protein and Amino Acids in Infant and Young Child Nutrition: Considerations for the Development and Delivery of High Quality Complementary Food Supplements. Prevention of malnutrition in infants and children is multifaceted and requires the following: access to and intake of nutritious food starting at birth with exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 mo […]

The Rise and Fall of Universal Salt Iodization in Vietnam: Lessons Learned for Designing Sustainable Food Fortification Programs With a Public Health Impact Background: In 2005, more than 90% of Vietnamese households were using adequately iodized salt, and urinary iodine concentration among women of reproductive age was in the optimal range. However, household coverage declined […]

Severe and Moderate Acute Malnutrition Can Be Successfully Managed with an Integrated Protocol in Sierra Leone. BACKGROUND: Global acute malnutrition (GAM) is the sum of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The use of different foods and protocols for MAM and SAM treatment can be cumbersome in emergency settings. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to […]

The problem of suboptimal complementary feeding practices in West Africa: what is the way forward? The objective of this paper was to review the policy implications of inadequate complementary feeding among children aged 6–23 months in West Africa. The review was undertaken from the initial results and findings from a series of studies on the […]

Application of the Health Belief Model to Teach Complementary Feeding Messages in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia many women do not practice appropriate complementary feeding (CF). The Health Belief Model (HBM) asserts that change in behavior is determined after consideration of severity, benefit, and barriers to change. This study examined the effectiveness of 3 months of HBM-based […]

Low‐dose RUTF protocol and improved service delivery lead to good programme outcomes in the treatment of uncomplicated SAM: a programme report from Myanmar The treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) requires substantial amounts of ready‐to‐use therapeutic food (RUTF). In 2009, Action Contre la Faim anticipated a shortfall of RUTF for their nutrition programme in […]