Engaging Fathers for Improving Dietary Diversity in Kaduna State

This was pre-post study designed to measure changes in complementary feeding practices and document the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention to engage fathers in supporting dietary diversity in Kaduna State, Nigeria. This study was conducted as part of the Alive \& Thrive Nigeria program, implemented by FHI 360 and partners. RTI led the design and implementation of the study, with Datametrics Associates Ltd. serving as the data collection partner in Nigeria. The study was carried out in 6 wards (2 urban, 4 rural) of Igabi local government area in Kaduna State. We collected survey data cross-sectionally from 495 cohabiting mothers and fathers of children 6-23 months at baseline and endline. Participants were randomly sampled within 99 clusters selected proportional to population size. The purpose of the surveys was to obtain data on children's complementary feeding, changes in fathers' and mothers' knowledge and attitudes related to complementary feeding, and fathers' support for complementary feeding, and to measure participants' exposure to the intervention components. To measure feasibility and acceptability of the intervention, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews at the end of the intervention with community and religious leaders and Community Health Extension Workers who were involved in implementing the intervention. In addition, we conducted separate focus group discussions with mothers and fathers (8 groups each) at the end of the intervention to learn about changes in social norms related to fathers' engagement in complementary feeding and their experiences with participating in the intervention.