Engaging Fathers in Child Nutrition: Exploring Intra-household Gender Dynamics in Nutrition Interventions in Ethiopia

This study aims to examine intra-household gender dynamics in response to a nutrition intervention (maternal Behaviour Change Communication (BCC), paternal BCC, and food vouchers) aimed at improving IYCF practices using qualitative methods. Participants were drawn from a subset of households enrolled in a larger cluster - randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in rural Ethiopia. A total of 40 participants (20 mother-father pairs) from intervention and control households were interviewed separately to explore intra-dyadic beliefs and household decision-making. Furthermore, this study explores plausible mechanisms behind the main RCT finding that greater father involvement, while increasing knowledge, did not consistently improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) outcomes. We find that BCC mothers had the tendency to adopt more gender-equal beliefs, particularly regarding men's roles in childcare and household chores, whereas fathers were slower to shift their views. This may have led to increased discordance in gender norms within BCC households. By contrast, control couples often retained traditional views, but showed more intra-couple alignment. Unexpectedly, control fathers were sometimes more progressive than control mothers, potentially due to higher education levels. We also find increased paternal engagement occasionally introduced conflicting priorities, as fathers asserted authority over household spending - sometimes at the expense of child-focused nutrition. These findings underscore the complexity of engaging fathers in nutrition interventions and point to the need for strategies that address underlying gender norms and decision-making dynamics within households.