Clinical trial NCT05181293: Mobile Gaming App to Improve Child Nutrition in Nigeria
Official title: Impact of a Mobile Gaming App on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices of Teenage Mothers, and Nutritional Status of Children (0 - 24 Months) in Nigeria
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Child Malnutrition
Behavior, Maternal
Lead sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-01-06
Enrollment: 216
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 0
Maximum age (years): 19
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Undernutrition among children born to teenage mothers deserves urgent attention in Nigeria, where 27.2% of girls (15-19 years) living in rural areas have begun childbearing. The overall goal of this study is to develop, validate and evaluate the effects of a mobile gaming app on the infant and young child feeding practices of teenage mothers, and the nutritional status of children (0 - 2 years).

Detailed description: Undernutrition among children born to teenage mothers deserves urgent attention in Nigeria, where 27.2% of girls (15-19 years) living in rural areas have begun childbearing. Pregnancy elevates the nutrient needs of teenage girls due to competing requirements for fetal development, and growth and maturity in the adolescent mother. The resultant children have a higher likelihood of underweight (13-fold), stunting (8-fold) and wasting (3-fold), and are over 50% more likely to die within the first month of birth, as compared to children of older mothers. Previous studies have found positive associations between maternal education/knowledge and optimum infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. Childbirth results in a sharp increase in the responsibilities and work burden of teenage mothers, negatively impacting capacity and self-efficacy for adequate child feeding. Furthermore, attempts to improve IYCF practices often target older women. The overall goal of this study is to develop, validate and evaluate the effects of a mobile gaming app on the infant and young child feeding practices of teenage mothers. A secondary goal is to evaluate the anthropometric and dietary and plasma levels of microminerals of children, 0 - 24 months of age. A mobile app will be developed and validated. It will feature an interactive role-play game on recommended IYCF practices that will help educate teenage mothers about feeding young children. A 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted in 266 predominantly low-income mother-child dyads (0 - 24 months) from Nigeria. This RCT will compare the influence of the BabyThrive app vs controls who receive a delayed intervention. It will include knowledge and practices regarding exclusive breastfeeding, introduction to solid/semi-solid foods, meal frequency, dietary diversity and amount of food consumed of teenage mothers. Anthropometric measurements and plasma ferritin and zinc of children also will be evaluated.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Teenage mothers with children aged 0 - 24 months

Exclusion Criteria:

* Children with acute infections, metabolic or feeding issues
* Mothers younger than 14 years of age
* HIV-positive mothers

Primary outcomes:
measure: Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) knowledge and practice scores of teenage mothers
timeFrame: Baseline, Month 6 of intervention
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Abuja
country: Nigeria
facility: Center for Family Health Initiative
state: Federal Capital Territory
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Texas at Austin
name: Jeanne H Freeland-Graves, PhD, RD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: