According to the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 36% of children under the age of five were stunted, 14% were wasted and 33% were underweight. These results reflect positive trends in stunting and underweight since 2004, though the rate of decline in undernutrition slowed from 2011 to 2014. And, despite positive trends, there remain gaps in key indicators between rural and urban areas and between those in the highest and lowest wealth quintiles. For instance, according to the BDHS, 38% of rural children under five were stunted compared to 31% of urban children. The wealth discrepancies are even greater; 49% of children under five in the lowest wealth quintile were stunted compared to 19% in the highest quintile.
In 2017, the GoB approved the second National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN 2) 2016-2025. The plan aims to improve nutrition and eliminate malnutrition, with a focus on children, adolescent girls, and pregnant and lactating women. Specific targets of NPAN 2 include reducing stunting to 25% among children under 5; reducing wasting to less than 8% and reducing underweight to less than 15%. A significant acceleration in the annual rate of reduction to 3.3% needs to occur in order to achieve the ambitious Targets by 2025. This acceleration requires high-level political commitment, a strong policy framework, effective coordinating mechanisms, adequate resourcing, strong involvement of local civil society groups, and high impact, cost-effective, multisectoral nutrition interventions.
In 2017, USAID awarded FHI 360 the Strengthening Multisectoral Nutrition Programming through Implementation Science Activity (hereafter referred to as "the Project") to test and refine multisectoral nutrition approaches in high stunting areas of Bangladesh. Under the Project, research is being conducted to assess the effect of different multisectoral nutrition intervention packages aimed at improving nutrition outcomes that are known to contribute to overall healthy nutritional status of children under two in Bangladesh. One of the intervention packages studied by the Project focuses on conditional cash transfers (CCT) for social protection. The primary objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of the current standard of practice with two multisectoral intervention packages--one with and without a CCT intervention. The two intervention arms are as follows:
* Strengthened: Referrals to health services, strengthened health services, and enhanced social and behavior change communication (SBCC)
* Strengthened + CCT: Referrals to health services, strengthened health services, enhanced SBCC and cash transfers conditional on a mother attending antenatal care (ANC) and monthly nutrition education SBCC group sessions.
A cluster-randomized, controlled trial (cRCT) design will be used to evaluate effectiveness. The interventions will be delivered at the level of the union, which is a geo-political unit with an average population of 25,000 people. A total of 60 unions in Khulna and Barishal Divisions of Bangladesh will be randomly allocated to one of the three study arms: Control (Current Practice), Strengthened Intervention, or Strengthened + CCT Intervention. Outcome data will be collected through face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires with independently selected random samples of mothers/caregivers of children ages 6 to 23 months at baseline (pre-intervention) and again at endline. At both timepoints, participants will be chosen from a sub-sample of the general population who meet the eligibility criteria. Baseline data will be conducted prior to initiation of study activities. Endline data collection will be conducted after two years.
A process evaluation will be completed between baseline and endline to understand how well the interventions were implemented, their costs, and ways they may be improved.
The final evaluation analysis of the cRCT to be done at endline, and will focus on comparing the effect of the intervention on the study outcomes. The study's primary outcome is the percentage of children 6-23 months old receiving a minimum acceptable diet (MAD), as a proximate determinant for stunting. MAD is defined as the proportion of children 6-23 months old who receive both the minimum feeding frequency and minimum dietary diversity for their age group and breastfeeding status. It will be assessed based on the mother/caregiver report. Secondary outcomes include assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices around breastfeeding, complementary feeding, water sanitation and hygiene, health services and gender norms.
It is anticipated an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) approach will be used for a post-only comparison of study arms with possible adjustment for baseline levels in an aggregate manner (note: aggregation for baseline adjustment will be needed given the independent samples selected at each time point). Generalized mixed models to compare the study groups and adjust for clustering at the union level will be used. A logit link will be used for the primary outcome (i.e., minimum acceptable diet) as it is a dichotomous outcome, while other link functions will be used for other outcomes as appropriate. It is hypothesized that the intervention arm with the enhanced SBCC will be superior to standard practice. It is further hypothesized that adding CCT along with the enhanced SBCC will produce an even greater effect. These pairwise comparisons will be tested using the model parameter estimates.
