Effectiveness of SNF and SBCC to Prevent Stunting Among Children in Afghanistan: a Quasi-experimental Study

Sponsor
Aga Khan University (Other)
Overall Status
Recruiting
CT.gov ID
NCT04581993
Collaborator
Ministry of public Health Afghanistan (Other), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) (Other), The Aga Khan Foundation (Other), Aga Khan Health Services (Other)
33,100
1
2
22.9
1443.4

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Over the years, there has been some progress made in reducing stunting in Afghanistan, the prevalence remains high with half of the provinces experiencing rates above the WHO alert threshold. As part of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP), the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to implement a stunting prevention programme in collaboration with Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) through its Public Nutrition Department (PND) in selected locations with stunting rates above 45%. The programme will emphasis on appropriate nutrition support in the '1000 days' window of opportunity with special focus on proven effective nutrition interventions such appropriate breast feeding, complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, malnutrition treatment and prevention, WASH.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Dietary Supplement: Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar
  • Dietary Supplement: Lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ)
  • Behavioral: Social and behavior change communication (SBCC)
N/A

Detailed Description

Over the years, there has been some progress made in reducing stunting in Afghanistan, the prevalence remains high with half of the provinces experiencing rates above the WHO alert threshold. As part of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP), the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to implement a stunting prevention programme in collaboration with Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) through its Public Nutrition Department (PND) in selected locations with stunting rates above 45%. The programme will emphasis on appropriate nutrition support in the '1000 days' window of opportunity with special focus on proven effective nutrition interventions such appropriate breast feeding, complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, malnutrition treatment and prevention, WASH. This will therefore take the form of an integrated approach ensuring the targeted beneficiaries are supported to access nutrition assistance as well as other complimentary interventions provided in-kind by study partners or promoted through social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). WFP will target pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and children aged 6-23 months but will also engage men and players that influence maternal infant and young child nutrition practices. Through this programme, children aged 6-23 months will receive lipid-based nutrient supplement - medium quantity (LNS-MQ) to complement their diets while PLW will receive Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar.

An operational research study was embedded in the stunting prevention programme by credible third-party to determine the extent to which the new actions will influence nutrition outcomes and practices. Introducing the provision of SNF, SBCC as well as formulation and adoption of local culturally acceptable recipes for complementary feeding from locally available nutritious food would be new additions to the current Community Based Nutrition Program (CBNP) package in the implementation phase. During the project implementation, emphasis will be placed will be placed on the adoption of the locally formulated complementary foods as well as application of knowledge and practices promoted through the SBCC activities as part of the exit strategy and ensuring a lasting impact of the project.

Therefore, the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan proposes an operational research study with mix-methods including formative research, quasi-experimental design to evaluate the stunting prevention programme and process evaluations for stronger evidence base on the effectiveness of proposed interventions on prevention of stunting and developing viable programmes on nutrition under "real" operational conditions.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
33100 participants
Allocation:
Non-Randomized
Intervention Model:
Factorial Assignment
Masking:
Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose:
Prevention
Official Title:
Effectiveness of Specialized Nutritious Foods, Social and Behavior Change Communication Interventions to Prevent Stunting Among Children in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan: a Quasi-experimental Study
Actual Study Start Date :
Feb 1, 2021
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Aug 31, 2022
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Dec 31, 2022

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Intervention

Pregnant and lactating women (PLW) will receive Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar and children aged 6-23 months will receive lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ). Social and behavior change communication (SBCC), community mobilization, referrals, identification of model families, food demonstrations, local recipe) ration/beneficiary entitlement cards will be provided for easy verification and tracking during delivery of intervention.

Dietary Supplement: Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar
Pregnant and lactating women will received Super Cereal during pregnancy and first six months of lactation.

Dietary Supplement: Lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ)
Children will receive LNS during 6-23 months of age.

Behavioral: Social and behavior change communication (SBCC)
SBCC will be provided to improve care-givers knowledge, attitudes and practices related to infant and young child feeding.

No Intervention: Control

Control districts will receive routine health care services available in the study area.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Reduction in stunting [18 months]

    10% reduction in stunting among children 6-23 months in the intervention compare to control

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
6 Months to 49 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Yes
Inclusion Criteria:
  • Pregnant and lactating women

  • Children 6-23 months

  • Willing to participate

Exclusion Criteria:
  • Non pregnant and lactating women

  • Children >24 months

  • Refuse to participate

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 Aga Khan Health Services Faizabad Badakhshan Afghanistan

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Aga Khan University
  • Ministry of public Health Afghanistan
  • United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
  • The Aga Khan Foundation
  • Aga Khan Health Services

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sajid B Soofi, MBBS, FCPS, Aga Khan University

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.
Responsible Party:
Dr Sajid Bashir Soofi, Professor, Aga Khan University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT04581993
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • Stunting Study Afghanistan
First Posted:
Oct 9, 2020
Last Update Posted:
May 11, 2022
Last Verified:
May 1, 2022
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
No
Plan to Share IPD:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Product Manufactured in and Exported from the U.S.:
No
Keywords provided by Dr Sajid Bashir Soofi, Professor, Aga Khan University
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of May 11, 2022