Philani Home-based Nutrition Intervention Program

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Malnourished children and babies with birth weights under 2500 grams are at high risk for negative outcomes over their lifespan. Philani, a paraprofessional home-visiting program, was mounted in neighborhoods in three townships in Cape Town, South Africa, from 2002 to 2004 to improve nutritional outcomes. One mentor mother was recruited from each of 37 neighborhoods. Mentor mothers were trained to conduct home visits to weigh children and to support mothers to problem-solve life challenges, especially around nutrition. Households were randomly assigned on a 2-to-1 ratio to the Philani program or to a standard care condition. Children were evaluated over a 1-year period. The investigators hypothesized that children in the intervention would gain more weight than children in the control.

Official Title
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Philani Home-based Nutrition Intervention Program

Conditions
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Child Weight

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Philani nutrition intervention program (mentor mothers)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: mother or caregiver with child under 5 years of age and malnourished (malnourished if less than 2 standard deviations below the World Health Organization normative mean weight for the child's age Exclusion Criteria: no malnourished children under care malnourished children not living in household
Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Mentor mothers<br>Behavioral intervention was offered through mentor mothers. Mentors were mothers in community who were selected by because they were doing well. They were trained to conduct home visits, up to 16 times over one year period, ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours. Mentor mothers worked to improve health of mother and their child and build social support in neighborhood. | Behavioral: Philani nutrition intervention program (mentor mothers)<br>* Behavioral intervention was offered through mentor mothers. Mentors were mothers in community who were selected by because they were doing well. They were trained to conduct home visits, up to 16 times over one year period, ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours. Mentor mothers worked to improve health of mother and their child and build social support in neighborhood.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control<br>Control cases were visited and their infants were weighed 4 times over one year period. After one year, mothers were provided Philani nutrition intervention program. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| weight-for-age z-score |  | one year | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| weight in kilograms |  | one year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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nutrition, child weight, undernourishment, mentor mother, South Africa