SMS Messages to Increase Child Egg Consumption, a C-rct in Nepal

Summary

Eggs are well-known to be a balanced source of protein, energy, fatty acids, and micronutrients and increasingly identified as an opportunity to improve nutrition of poor populations. Few implementation studies have been done globally, and none in South Asia, to assess the effectiveness of using behavior change programs to motivate households to increase egg consumption. Egg consumption is particularly poor in Nepal, but the government and development partners are implementing at scale policies and programs to address poor diets and other determinants of undernutrition, which is persistently high in Nepal.

This cluster-randomized controlled trial (c-RCT) aims to help address the gap in the evidence base regarding how to improve egg consumption. The c-RCT will evaluate the effectiveness of using short message service (SMS) messaging, layered into a large-scale behavior change program, to improve egg consumption and dietary diversity among children 1 to 2 years of age. A two-arm trial will be used to compare the following two strategies: 1) Suaahara II standard multi-sectoral nutrition interventions without any text messages and 2) Suaahara II standard multi sectoral nutrition interventions plus a SMS message campaign targeting all adult household members of households in the 1000-day period between conception and a child's second birthday.

Conditions

• Dietary Habits

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

SMS messages

A package of at least monthly SMS messages delivered to all adults in households with an individual in the 1000-day period between pregnancy and a child turning 2 years of age.

BEHAVIORAL

Standard SII SBCC

Home visits/IPC; community events including food demo and key life events; and Bhanchhin Aama radio program episodes

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of South Carolina

  collaborator OTHER

• University College, London

  collaborator OTHER

• International Food Policy Research Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• FHI 360

  collaborator OTHER

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

  collaborator FED

• Digital Broadcast Initiative Equal Access

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Helen Keller International

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ed Frongillo · University of South Carolina

• Aman Sen · Helen Keller International

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-08-20

Primary Completion

2021-04-28

Completion

2021-04-28

Countries

• Nepal

Study Locations