Nutrition and Parenting for Child Development Pilot

Location: Cap Haitien, Haiti

Collaborators: Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, Universite Publique du Nord Au Cap Haitien

Description: Stunting, or low height-for-age Z score, affects 162 million young children internationally and was recently targeted by the World Health Assembly for reduction by 40% by 2025. While there is sufficient evidence linking undernutrition and impaired child development, few studies have tested integrated, holistic strategies to prevent the two associated public health problems. Using a mixed methods approach, we aimed to develop and test an integrated nutrition and child development intervention to promote healthy growth and development among young children in an urban slum of Haiti.

A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Cap- Haïtien, Haiti between January and March 2017. Families of young children ages 6-24 months were recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention (n=15) or control (n=15) groups for two months. Children in the intervention group received a weekly ration of animal source foods (eggs and fish), and their parents received the parenting for growth and development intervention which included messages related to child feeding, hygiene and sanitation, and development. Baseline and endline measures included child anthropometry (length and weight), dietary intakes, morbidities, and developmental outcomes using the previously validated Ages & Stages questionnaire.

Sponsor: Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis 

Publications

Nutrition factors predict earlier acquisition of motor and language milestones among young children in Haiti. Iannotti L, Dulience S, Wolff P, Cox K, Lesorogol C, Kohl P. Acta Paediatrica. 2016

Press

Social Work and Public Health Faculty Team Up for Pilot Study in Haiti