Evaluation of School-based Nutrition Intervention for Adolescents in Bangladesh

Summary

Addressing the nutrition needs of adolescents could be an important initiative for breaking the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition, chronic diseases and poverty. To respond to these diverse needs of adolescents, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in 2012, instituted a national policy for adolescent girls' weekly iron and folic acid (WIFA) supplementation in secondary schools to reduce anemia. Efforts are in place to roll out a national WIFA supplementation program for both in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls aged 10-19 years. Responding to the need to demonstrate the feasibility of such a new initiative before it is scaled-up, Nutrition International (NI) with funding support from the Government of Canada committed to providing technical and financial support to demonstrate to the GoB, the feasibility of a school-based delivery of nutrition interventions to improve the nutrition and health status of adolescents in Joypurhat and Sirajganj districts of Bangladesh. The project developed and began roll out of a multi-sectorial holistic and integrated nutrition approach consisting of both a nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive program model for improving the general health and nutrition of adolescents in schools. This was delivered in an integrated package for girls and boys including WIFA supplementation (girls only), promotion of improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), behavior change interventions (BCI) on all topics, and support for menstrual hygiene management (MHM) for girls, including sale of menstrual products in schools. To evaluate the program, the GoB (Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (IPHN) and The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Education (DSHE) and NI with technical assistance from the CDC Foundation and CDC planned process and outcome evaluations for the first year of the program's implementation.

Conditions

• Anemia
• Menstrual Hygiene Management
• Improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFA)

Weekly school provision of WIFA tablets to adolescent girls

COMBINATION_PRODUCT

WASH

Ensure availability (or provision) of water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies for adolescent girls and boys

COMBINATION_PRODUCT

Menstrual Hygiene Management

Support for adolescent girls' menstrual hygiene

BEHAVIORAL

Nutrition Behavior Change Intervention (BCI)

Changing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nutrition (including dietary diversity), IFA, deworming

BEHAVIORAL

MHM & WASH Behavior Change Intervention (BCI)

Changing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of WASH and menstrual hygiene management

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  collaborator FED

• CDC Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Bangladesh

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Nutrition International

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

10 Years

Max Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-07-31

Primary Completion

2021-03-22

Completion

2022-02-28

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations