Maternal Participation Level in a Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Intervention Matters for Child Diet and Growth Outcomes in Rural Ghana

Abstract

Background Little is known about how the level of program participation affects child nutrition in rural interventions. Objective This study examined the association between participation level in a nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention and children's diet and anthropometric outcomes in rural Ghana. Methods Nutrition Links was a cluster randomized controlled trial (Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01985243)), which enrolled caregivers with children (< 12 months in 2014-15 and < 18 months in 2016-17). Of the 287 caregivers in 19 intervention communities who enrolled, 233 adopted the intervention and received layer poultry, garden inputs, and weekly child feeding education. The egg production and repayment of poultry were monitored, and feed was sold at the weekly meetings. After endline, the nutrition educators rated each woman who adopted the intervention on a scale (very poor (1) to excellent (5)) for: i) meeting attendance, ii) egg productivity, iii) feed and poultry loan payment, iv) contributions during meetings, and v) attentiveness towards group members. Participation level was classified as high, medium, and low by dividing the sum of these five items in tertiles; 54 women who did not adopt the intervention were classified as “no participation”. Generalized mixed linear models tested the difference in changes in children's diet and anthropometric indices between the participation levels and the control category – 213 caregiver-child dyads in 20 communities who received standard-of-care health and agricultural services. Results Compared to the control category, only high participation was associated with egg consumption (aOR = 3.03, 95% CI [1.15, 7.94])). Both medium and high participation levels were associated with length-for-age Z-score (aβ = 0.44, 95% CI [0.16, 0.72] and 0.40, 95% CI [0.12, 0.67], respectively). Conclusion These results highlight the importance of promoting and monitoring the level of beneficiary participation to estimate the full potential of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions to improve nutritional outcomes.

Exploring the benefits of nature-based interventions in socio-economically deprived communities: a narrative review of the evidence to date

“…Two of the reviewed studies also reported improvements in anthropometric outcomes for the children of mothers who had participated in an agriculture training intervention. 46 , 53 These infants were observed to have higher length-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-age than those in the control sample, 53 and benefits were greater for children whose mothers had engaged most with the intervention. 46 …”

“…Benefits of agriculture training interventions included significant improvements in dietary diversity, 42 , 53 consumption of nutrient rich foods 42 and likelihood of egg consumption. 46 One study also reported a non-significant reduction in likelihood of experiencing moderate-to-severe food insecurity for participants involved in the intervention when compared with controls. 42 …”

“…46,53 These infants were observed to have higher length-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-age than those in the control sample, 53 and benefits were greater for children whose mothers had engaged most with the intervention. 46 Resilience, anxiety and depression Davies et al 47 reported significant improvements in resilience scores following the outdoor sustainable project. However, this difference was only observed when the analysis was restricted to participants who fell at or below a predefined clinical threshold at the baseline assessment.…”

Efektivitas Metode Penyuluhan dan Konseling Dalam Upaya Perbaikan Status Gizi Pada Anak Malnutrisi

“…Penyakit berkaitan dengan makanan, 5. Kebersihan dan juga tentang stimulasi anak (Dallmann et al, 2022).…”

“…tingkat partisipasi ibu yang tinggi atau sedang berkaitan dengan peningkatan pertumbuhan pada anak. terdapat peningkatan 0.18 z-score untuk TB/U pada anak (Dallmann et al, 2022).…”