BACKGROUND:
Undernutrition in under-five
children remains a
worldwide health issue and is considered one of the leading causes of increased
morbidity and
mortality. This study aims to assess the impact of home-based nutritional intervention on the
nutritional status of
preschool children living in
rural areas of South
India.
METHODS:
A single-blinded cluster
randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of the intervention, with
weight gain as the primary outcome. A cluster of 12 villages was randomized to intervention or control
arms. A total of 253
underweight preschool children from 12 clusters (villages) were randomized to intervention (n = 127) and control
arm (n = 126). The intervention was composed of a
health-
teaching program and a demonstration of nutritious
food preparation in addition to the regular services provided at the Anganwadi centers. The control
arm received only standard routine care provided in the Anganwadi centre. The anthropometric assessment was carried out at the baseline and every month for a year.
RESULT:
A significant increase in the mean weight kilograms was noted in the intervention group (11.9 ± 0.98 to 13.78 ± 0.89) compared to the
control group (11.8 ± 1.03 to 12.96 ± 0.88). In the intervention group, at the baseline, 41.5% were moderately malnourished (> - 2SD-3SD), which decreased to 24% at the end of the year. Similarly, severe
malnutrition decreased from 8.69 to 3.16%, while 20.5% of malnourished
children achieved normal
nutritional status. In the
control group, undernourished
children demonstrated minimal changes in
nutritional status.
Analysis of repeated
measures of
ANOVA results between the intervention and
control groups on weight measurements (F (1, 251) = 15.42, p .001) and height measurements (F (2, 1258) = 1.540, p .001) revealed statistical significance.
CONCLUSION:
The
nutritional status of
preschool children is found to be improved by home-based intervention, which includes
training mothers or
caregivers in
planning and preparing healthy nutritious
diets, providing timely care, and gaining an
understanding and
knowledge of the
nutritional status along with regular home-based
diet preparation. TRIAL REGISTRATION ctri@gov.in CTRI/2017/03/008273 [Registered on 31/03/2017].