Breastfeeding – Page 3

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding programme to promote early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding in DR Congo: a cluster-randomised controlled trial (The Lancet Global Health 2015, 3:9)

July 31, 2016

Optimisation of breastfeeding practices could reduce high mortality rates in children younger than 5 years, but in DR Congo, despite near-universal breastfeeding initiation and nine of ten children still breastfeeding at 1 year of age, exclusivity remains a difficulty. This article looks at an assessment of the effect on breastfeeding outcomes of a short-cut implementation of a programme called the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the key component of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI).

A cluster-randomised controlled trial was carried out in randomly assigned health-care clinics in Kinshasa, DR Congo, to standard care (control group), BFHI steps 1–9 (steps 1–9 group), or BFHI steps 1–9 plus additional support during well-child visits (steps 1–10 group) with computer-generated random numbers used to assign matched pairs to study groups. Mothers at these clinics who had given birth to one healthy baby during enrolment, and who expressed their intentions of visiting a well-baby session at the same clinic, were eligible and received the treatment assigned to their clinic.

Community theater for improved nutrition. A guide for programme managers and theater groups (USAID 2011)

May 8, 2016

Community theatre can be an effective way to support positive changes in health knowledge and behaviour as well as related social norms. This is a guide for programme managers and community theatre groups on how and why to integrate maternal, infant, and young child nutrition content into existing community theater activities. It provides recommendations for strengthening theater performances based on PATH’s successful experience implementing Magnet Theater for a variety of public health topics throughout Africa and Asia, and the Infant & Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) Project’s experience using theater to promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices in Zambia.

Evidence of Effective Approaches to Social and Behavior Change Communication for Preventing and Reducing Stunting and Anemia: Findings from a Systematic Literature Review (SPRING 2014)

March 17, 2016

Evidence suggests that simply increasing knowledge and awareness of good nutrition practices rarely leads to sustained behavior change, nor is sustained change in nutrition behavior likely to be achieved through a single activity. Several specific behaviors or practices impact nutritional status during the critical first 1,000 days (pregnancy to age two), while complex, contextual determinants also influence individual decisions to consider, test, adopt and sustain a given behavior or practice. The field of Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) is a collection of approaches and tools informed by behavioral theories and used to design public health interventions.

This review, part of a broader effort by SPRING to support governments and other stakeholders in their delivery of high impact nutrition practices, provides a summary of peer-reviewed evidence regarding the effectiveness of SBCC approaches to increase the uptake of three key nutrition behaviors: women’s dietary practices during pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding practices, and complementary feeding practices. SBCC interventions have been broadly categorized into three areas: interpersonal communication; use of media; and community/social mobilization. This review also identifies gaps in the evidence and recommendations for further areas of study.

This review includes a total of 91 studies identified using the Ovid MEDLINE database. Recognizing the potential value of a broad array of study designs, results from five study types are included: reviews (including meta-analysis), randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, repeated cross-sectional studies, and cross-sectional studies. Excluded studies include those with data from high income countries, those published prior to 2000, those written in a language other than English, and those that focused exclusively on refinement of a research methodology. Other exclusions are noted in the text.

Click here for full review.

Effects of a Media Campaign on Breastfeeding Behaviours in Sindh Province, Pakistan (World Health & Population Article, 2015)

March 12, 2016

Abstract: A 2013–2014 media campaign in Sindh Province, Pakistan, promoted healthy breastfeeding practices. According to data from annual household surveys, 26.7% of mothers saw one television spot and 19.4% saw another. The proportion of mothers who received breastfeeding information via television increased from 8.3% to 29.4% after the campaign (p≤0.05) and the percentage receiving information from doctors, mothers-in-law and relatives/friends nearly doubled (p≤0.05). However, no improvements in breastfeeding practices were reported. The experience in Sindh suggests that, in order to change breastfeeding practices, mass media interventions should be linked with other interventions, such as provider counseling, that involve influential family members in addition to mothers.

Source: World Health & Population, 16(2) December 2015: 39-45.doi:10.12927/whp.2016.24494