Behavior change interventions delivered through interpersonal communication, agricultural activities, community mobilization, and mass media increase complementary feeding practices and reduce child stunting in Ethiopia
Background: Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices are critical for optimal child growth and development, but in Ethiopia, complementary feeding (CF) practices are very poor. Alive & Thrive (A&T) provided intensive behavior change interventions through 4 platforms: interpersonal communication (IPC), nutrition-sensitive agricultural activities (AG), community mobilization (CM), and mass media (MM). Objectives: The aim […]
Unpacking the enabling factors for hand, cord and birth-surface hygiene in Zanzibar maternity units
Recent national surveys in The United Republic of Tanzania have revealed poor standards of hygiene at birth in facilities. As more women opt for institutional delivery, improving basic hygiene becomes an essential part of preventative strategies for reducing puerperal and newborn sepsis. Our collaborative research in Zanzibar provides an in-depth picture of the state of […]
Uptake of intermittent preventive treatment and pregnancy outcomes: Health facilities and community surveys in Chókwè district, southern Mozambique
Background: Malaria in pregnancy leads to serious adverse effects on the mother and the child and accounts for 75,000-200,000 infant deaths every year. Currently, the World Health Organization recommends intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) at each scheduled antenatal care (ANC) visit. This study aimed to assess IPTp-SP coverage in […]
Elucidating the sustained decline in under-three child linear growth faltering in Nepal, 1996–2016
Childhood linear growth faltering remains a major public health concern in Nepal. Nevertheless, over the past 20 years, Nepal sustained one of the most rapid reductions in the prevalence of stunting worldwide. First, our study analysed the trends in height-for-age z-score (HAZ), stunting prevalence, and available nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific determinants of linear growth faltering in […]
Eliciting women’s preferences for place of child birth at a peri-urban setting in Nairobi, Kenya: A discrete choice experiment
Objective Maternal and newborn mortality rates are high in peri-urban areas in cities in Kenya, yet little is known about what drives women’s decisions on where to deliver. This study aimed at understanding women’s preferences on place of childbirth and how sociodemographic factors shape these preferences. Methods This study used a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) […]
Implications of ethiopian productive safety net programme on household dietary diversity and women’s body mass index: A cross-sectional study
Introduction: Poor nutritional status of women remains a critical problem in Ethiopia. Nutrition for women matters not only for the public health relevance of breaking the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition but for its high return in other sectors such as education and health. The Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is a program that protects […]
Household and maternal risk factors for malaria in pregnancy in a highly endemic area of Uganda: A prospective cohort study
Background: Malaria in pregnancy is a major public health challenge, but its risk factors remain poorly understood in some settings. This study assessed the association between household and maternal characteristics and malaria among pregnant women in a high transmission area of Uganda. Methods: A nested prospective study was conducted between 6th September 2016 and 5th […]
Mid-thigh circumference as an indicator of nutritional status to predict adverse pregnancy outcomes among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women in Malawi
Background: High rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes globally raise the need to understand risk factors and develop preventative interventions. The Pregnancy Outcomes in the Era of Universal Antiretroviral Treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa (POISE Study) was a prospective, observational cohort study conducted from 2016 to 2017 in Blantyre, Malawi. We examine the associations between indicators of […]
The profile, health seeking behavior, referral patterns, and outcome of outborn neonates admitted to a district and regional hospital in the upper west region of ghana: A cross-sectional study
Neonatal mortality is the major contributor to under-five mortality rates in many low and middle income countries. We examined the health practices, care-seeking behavior, and referral of sick outborn neonates to a district and regional hospital in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The study was a cross-sectional study conducted over an eight (8) month […]
Prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among under-five children in the Jawi district, Awi Zone Ethiopia, 2019. Community based comparative cross-sectional study
Introduction: Although most deaths are preventable with simple and inexpensive measures, death from diarrhea accounts for one out of nine deaths in children worldwide which makes it the disease with the highest mortality rate in children under the age of five. Therefore, this study is aims to investigate diarrhea prevalence and risk factors among children […]
