Impact of Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend and Nutrition Education on Turkana Children's Health Outcomes

Summary

The goal of this study was to test the effect of an intervention that Integrated supplemental feeding program for children aged 6-59 months with a caregiver intensive nutrition education intervention on the health outcomes of Turkan children aged 6-59 months.

The purpose of this study was fivefold: (i) to assess child nutrition status, food security status, child feeding practices, water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) practices, and the associated factors in Turkana County, Kenya. (ii) To assess the nutrition knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions towards recommended child feeding practices among Turkana caregivers of children aged 6-59 months. (iii) To assess the effect of a theory-based nutrition education intervention on nutrition knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions towards recommended child feeding practices among Turkana caregivers of children aged 6-59 months, (iv) to evaluate the effect of a theory-based nutrition education intervention on child feeding practices and WASH practices among Turkana caregivers of children aged 6-59 months, (v) and to assess the effect of consuming Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend combined with nutrition education intervention on the nutritional status of Turkana children aged 6 -59 months.

In this quasi-experimental study, children in the intervention group received a daily meal of Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend (6 days/week) for eight weeks and their caregivers' received sessions of nutrition education on infant and young child feeding practices and WASH practices. The participants in the control group were only given one bag of supplemental food on the days of data collection to compensate for their time

Conditions

• Malnutrition, Child

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Theory-Based Nutrition Education Intervention to Improve Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices and WASH Practices Among Turkana Caregivers

This nutrition education intervention was designed following the DESIGN procedure, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior, and employed health literacy principles. The nutrition education sessions were held Monday through Saturday for a total of 8 weeks in a community building. This nutrition education intervention had 4 modules, module one covered the recommended breastfeeding practices, including early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding. The second module was on the young child feeding practices, with a focus on the quality and quantity of the child's meal. The third module entailed WASH practices such as disinfection of drinking water, harms of open defecation, and other personal and household hygiene practices. The fourth module served as a comprehensive review of all previous modules.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend

Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend is a dehydrated supplemental food produced from natural ingredients namely, rice, carrots, lentils and onions. This product was prepared by mixing it with water and boiling the mixture for approximately 25-35 minutes to a mid-consistency. In this study we implemented a blanket supplementary feeding program where all the recruited children in the intervention group received a meal of Harvest Lentil Vegetable Blend. The feeding program was on-site, and participating children aged 6-12 months received three-quarters of a cup of the supplemental food, (\~ 52 kcal/d). Children aged 13-23 months received 1 cup of the supplemental food (∼69 kcal/d), whereas children aged 24-59 months received 2 cups of the supplemental food (∼138 kcal/d). The feeding was implemented for 6 days a week (Monday through Saturday) for a total of eight weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Breedlove Foods Inc

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Texas Tech University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

59 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-06-12

Primary Completion

2023-08-15

Completion

2023-08-15

Countries

• Kenya