Clinical trial NCT05871346: Effects of Complementary Feeding Counseling on Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices and Child Undernutrition
Official title: Effects of Complementary Feeding Counseling on Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices and Child Undernutrition in West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Feeding Behavior
Keywords: Complementary feeding counseling (CFC)
Appropriate complementary feeding practices (ACFP)
Child Undernutrition
Lead sponsor: Bahir Dar University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-05-23
Enrollment: 776
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 21
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the World Health Organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic undernutrition (stunting, wasting \& underweight). Globally, the burden of undernutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of undernutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child undernutrition is a major public health problem.

Detailed description: Appropriate nutrition during the first 1000 days of life lays the foundation for a child's health and well-being. Introduction of complementary foods within 6-8 months of age and step-wise increase of diversified plant and animal-based diets is necessary, for which exclusive breast milk is no longer enough to meet the nutritional needs. Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the World Health Organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic undernutrition (stunting, wasting \& underweight). Globally, the burden of undernutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of undernutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child undernutrition is a major public health problem. This study aims to determine the effects of complementary feeding counseling on appropriate complementary feeding practices and child undernutrition through a community-based randomized controlled trial.

Eligibility criteria: Criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Mother-child pairs whose children are 6 months old.
2. Mother-child pairs who reside in the study area for at least 6 months before the survey.
3. Mother-child pairs who have no intention of leaving the study area during the intervention period.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Mothers with severe mental illness or who are unable to communicate (e.g., deaf).
2. Mother-child pairs with severe congenital malformations of their children.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline in appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers for their children at 9 months.
timeFrame: Time Frame: At baseline (from June 9 to December 30, 2023), and in 9 months (from September 30 to December 30, 2024).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline in child nutritional status at 9 months
timeFrame: Time Frame: At baseline (from June 9 to December 30, 2023), and in 9 months (from September 30 to December 30, 2024).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Bahir Dar
country: Ethiopia
facility: Bahir Dar University
state: Amhara Regional State
Study officials:
affiliation: Bahir Dar University
name: Shiferaw Bi Aynalem, MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Michaelsen KF, Grummer-Strawn L, Begin F. Emerging issues in complementary feeding: Global aspects. Matern Child Nutr. 2017 Oct;13 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):e12444. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12444.