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[Effect of a participation in a community-based nutrition program on children's outcomes]
V D Agueh1, M Makoutodé, M Dramaix
1Institut Régional de Santé Publique, Ouidah, 03 BP 1722, Cotonou, Bénin. vagueh@hotmail.com
Insights
A community program in Benin significantly reduced protein-energetic malnutrition in young children. However, improvements were not solely due to the program, as participant and non-participant nutritional status did not differ.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Nutrition Science
- International Development
Background:
- Protein-energetic malnutrition is a significant concern in young children in developing regions.
- Assessing community-based interventions is crucial for improving child nutrition outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a protein-energetic malnutrition prevention and treatment program.
- To assess the nutritional status of children aged 18-36 months in Benin's Mono Region.
Main Methods:
- Two cross-sectional anthropometric surveys were conducted in 1998 and 2001.
- Cluster sampling included 617 children in 1998 and 648 in 2001.
- Nutritional status was determined using height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height z-scores.
Main Results:
- A significant reduction in growth retardation (-13.1%) and underweight (-13.0%) was observed between 1998 and 2001.
- Improvements were more pronounced in children aged 30-36 months.
- The program showed a positive impact on reducing malnutrition prevalence.
Conclusions:
- The community program demonstrated substantial improvements in child nutritional status over three years.
- Attributing improvements solely to the program is cautioned due to similar outcomes in non-participants.
- Further research is needed to isolate program-specific effects on child nutrition.
Background:
This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a protein-energetic malnutrition prevention and treatment community program on the nutritional status of 18 to 36-month-old children in the poor communities of the Mono Region in Benin.
Methods:
Two cross sectional anthropometric surveys were conducted. The first survey took place in 1998, before the implementation of the program; the second survey was conducted three years later. At each survey, cluster samples proportional to the population size was done; the sizes of the samples were 617 in 1998 and 648 in 2001. The nutritional status of 18 to 36 month-old-children was assessed by z-score of the indexes height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height and the cut-off point of -2 standard deviation was used to identify children who had stunting, wasting or underweight; children with serious stunting, wasting or underweight were identified with the cut-off point of -3 standard deviation.
Results:
From 1998 to 2001, there was a significant reduction in the prevalence of growth retardation (-13.1%) and underweight (-13.0%). The reductions observed for the three types of protein-energetic malnutrition were more pronounced in the 30 to 36 months age group than in the others age groups.
Conclusion:
Substantial improvement was observed during the three years activities. This improvement cannot be attributed to the program unconditionally, because there was no difference between the nutritional status of participant and non participant children.
