CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 27Breastfeeding Practices and InfluencesChild Nutrition and Water AccessGlobal Maternal and Child Health

Peer Counseling Promotes Appropriate Infant Feeding Practices and Improves Infant Growth and Development in an Urban Slum in Bangladesh: A Community-Based Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Open access
Ara, Gulshan, Khanam, Mansura, Papri, Nowshin, Nahar, Baitun, Kabir, Iqbal, Sanin, Kazi Istiaque, Khan, Sihan Sadat, Sarker, Md Shafiqul Alam +1 more·2019·Current Developments in Nutrition
DOI 10.1093/cdn/nzz072PMC PMC6635820
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Undernutrition and poor cognitive development affect many children in developing countries. Good nutrition and health care are essential for optimal child development and growth. We assessed the impact of peer counseling combined with psychosocial stimulation on feeding practices and child growth and development in slums in Bangladesh. We performed a community-based cluster randomized controlled trial in selected slums; 350 mother–infant pairs were allocated to receive peer counseling on feeding practices plus psychosocial stimulation (PC + PCS; n = 175) or usual health messages (control; n = 175) using restricted randomization. Data were collected at enrollment and 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 mo after delivery. We collected data on infant and young child feeding practices and anthropometric measurements from birth until 12 mo to assess the main outcomes, including feeding practices and growth. We used the Bayley Scale III at 12 mo to assess child development. The effects of the PC + PCS intervention were assessed by using regression models. More mothers in the PC + PCS group than in the control group reported early initiation of breastfeeding (in the first hour: 89% compared with 78%, respectively; P < 0.05) and exclusive breastfeeding at 5 mo (73% compared with 27%, respectively; P < 0.001). Peer counseling had positively impacted infant length gain at 12 mo (P < 0.005). Children in the PC + PCS group were found to be more socially and emotionally active compared with controls at 12 mo (standardized score: 0.165 compared with −0.219, respectively; P < 0.05). Combining peer counseling with psychosocial stimulation had positive effects on infant feeding practices and growth at 12 mo and on the social–emotional development of young children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrial.gov as NCT03040375.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/cdn/nzz072

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 31

  1. [1]Bhutta ZA, Ahmed T, Black RE, Cousens S, Dewey K, Giugliani E, Haider BA, Kirkwood B, Morris SS, Sachdev HP et al. What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival. Lancet North Am Ed 2008; 371(9610): 417– 40. 18206226
  2. [3]Smith LC, Ramakrishnan U, Ndiaye A, Haddad L, Martorell R The importance of women's status for child nutrition in developing countries: International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) research report abstract 131. Food Nutr Bull 2003; 24(3): 287– 8.
  3. [4]Martorell R, Khan LK, Schroeder DG Reversibility of stunting: epidemiological findings in children from developing countries. Eur J Clin Nutr 1994; 48: S45– 57. 8005090
  4. [5]Bhutta ZA, Das JK, Rizvi A, Gaffey MF, Walker N, Horton S, Webb P, Lartey A, Black RE; Lancet Nutrition Interventions Review Group, the Maternal and Child Nutrition Study Group. Evidence-based interventions for improvement of maternal and child nutrition: what can be done and at what cost? Lancet North Am Ed 2013; 382(9890): 452– 77. 23746776
  5. [6]Pollitt E, Gorman KS, Engle PL, Rivera JA, Martorell R Nutrition in early life and the fulfillment of intellectual potential. J Nutr 1995; 125(Suppl 4): 1111S– 8S. 7536831
  6. [7]Grantham-McGregor SM, Cumper G Jamaican studies in nutrition and child development, and their implications for national development. Proc Nutr Soc 1992; 51(1): 71– 9. 1380717
  7. [8]Haas JD, Murdoch S, Rivera J, Martorell R Early nutrition and later physical work capacity. Nutr Rev 1996; 54(2): S41. 8710235
  8. [9]Martin RM, Smith GD, Frankel S, Gunnell D Parents’ growth in childhood and the birth weight of their offspring. Epidemiology 2004; 15(3): 308– 16. 15097011
  9. [11]Pelletier D, Haider R, Hajeebhoy N, Mangasaryan N, Mwadime R, Sarkar S The principles and practices of nutrition advocacy: evidence, experience and the way forward for stunting reduction. Matern Child Nutr 2013; 9: 83– 100. 24074320 PMC6860839
  10. [14]Zongrone A, Winskell K, Menon P Infant and young child feeding practices and child undernutrition in Bangladesh: insights from nationally representative data. Public Health Nutr 2012; 15(9): 1697– 704. 22564370
  11. [15]Ara G, Khanam M, Papri N, Nahar B, Haque MA, Kabir I, Dibley MJ Peer counselling improves breastfeeding practices: a cluster randomized controlled trial in urban Bangladesh. Matern Child Nutr 2018; 14(3): e12605. 29660858 PMC6055706
  12. [16]Morrow AL, Guerrero ML, Shults J, Calva JJ, Lutter C, Bravo J, Ruiz-Palacios G, Morrow RC, Butterfoss FD Efficacy of home-based peer counselling to promote exclusive breastfeeding: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet North Am Ed 1999; 353(9160): 1226– 31. 10217083
  13. [19]Walker SP, Chang SM, Vera-Hernández M, Grantham-McGregor S Early childhood stimulation benefits adult competence and reduces violent behavior. Pediatrics 2011; 127(5): 849– 57. 21518715
  14. [20]Campbell FA, Pungello EP, Miller-Johnson S, Burchinal M, Ramey CT The development of cognitive and academic abilities: growth curves from an early childhood educational experiment. Dev Psychol 2001; 37(2): 231. 11269391
  15. [21]Nahar B, Hamadani JD, Ahmed T, Tofail F, Rahman A, Huda S, Grantham-McGregor SM Effects of psychosocial stimulation on growth and development of severely malnourished children in a nutrition unit in Bangladesh. Eur J Clin Nutr 2009; 63(6): 725. 18772893
  16. [22]Nahar B, Hossain M, Hamadani J, Ahmed T, Huda S, Grantham-McGregor S, Persson LA Effects of a community-based approach of food and psychosocial stimulation on growth and development of severely malnourished children in Bangladesh: a randomised trial. Eur J Clin Nutr 2012; 66(6): 701. 22353925
  17. [23]Black MM, Walker SP, Fernald LC, Andersen CT, DiGirolamo AM, Lu C, McCoy DC, Fink G, Shawar YR, Shiffman J et al. Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. Lancet North Am Ed 2017; 389(10064): 77– 90. PMC5884058 27717614
  18. [24]Engle PL, Black MM, Behrman JR, De Mello MC, Gertler PJ, Kapiriri L, Martorell R, Young ME; International Child Development Steering Group. Strategies to avoid the loss of developmental potential in more than 200 million children in the developing world. Lancet North Am Ed 2007; 369(9557): 229– 42. 17240290
  19. [25]Engle PL, Fernald LC, Alderman H, Behrman J, O'Gara C, Yousafzai A, Cabral De Mello M, Hidrobo M, Ulkuer N, Ertem I et al. Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes for young children in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet North Am Ed 2011; 378(9799): 1339– 53. 21944378
  20. [26]Li F, Turner EL, Heagerty PJ, Murray DM, Vollmer WM, DeLong ER An evaluation of constrained randomization for the design and analysis of group randomized trials with binary outcomes. Stat Med 2017; 36(24): 3791– 806. 28786223 PMC5624845
  21. [27]Chaudhary MA, Moulton LH A SAS macro for constrained randomization of group-randomized designs. Comput Methods Programs Biomed 2006; 83(3): 205– 10. 16870302
  22. [30]Hemming K, Girling AJ, Sitch AJ, Marsh J, Lilford RJ Sample size calculations for cluster randomised controlled trials with a fixed number of clusters. BMC Med Res Method 2011; 11(1): 102. PMC3149598 21718530
  23. [33]Lohman TG Advances in body composition assessment. Med Sci Sports Exercise 1993; 25(6): 762.
  24. [35]Saha KK, Frongillo EA, Alam DS, Arifeen SE, Persson LÅ, Rasmussen KM Appropriate infant feeding practices result in better growth of infants and young children in rural Bangladesh. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87(6): 1852– 9. 18541577 PMC2518656
  25. [36]Hamadani JD, Huda SN, Khatun F, Grantham-McGregor SM Psychosocial stimulation improves the development of undernourished children in rural Bangladesh. J Nutr 2006; 136(10): 2645– 52. 16988140
  26. [37]Schweinhart LJ Evaluation of early childhood programs. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 1999; 8(2): 395– 407. 10202597
  27. [39]Haider R, Ashworth A, Kabir I, Huttly SR Effect of community-based peer counsellors on exclusive breastfeeding practices in Dhaka, Bangladesh: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet North Am Ed 2000; 356(9242): 1643– 7. 11089824
  28. [40]Vazir S, Engle P, Balakrishna N, Griffiths PL, Johnson SL, Creed-Kanashiro H, Fernandez Rao S, Shroff MR, Bentley ME Cluster-randomized trial on complementary and responsive feeding education to caregivers found improved dietary intake, growth and development among rural Indian toddlers. Matern Child Nutr 2013; 9(1): 99– 117. 22625182 PMC3434308
  29. [41]Aidam BA, Perez-Escamilla R, Lartey A Lactation counseling increases exclusive breast-feeding rates in Ghana. J Nutr 2005; 135(7): 1691– 5. 15987851
  30. [43]Garza C, Borghi E, Onyango AW, de Onis M; WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Study Group. Parental height and child growth from birth to 2 years in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study. Matern Child Nutr 2013; 9: 58– 68. 24074318 PMC6860547
  31. [44]Dettwyler KA, Fishman C Infant feeding practices and growth. Annu Rev Anthropol 1992; 21(1): 171– 204.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ara, G., Khanam, M., Papri, N., Nahar, B., Kabir, I., Sanin, K. I., Khan, S. S., Sarker, M. S. A., & Dibley, M. J.
Affiliations
  • International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (BD)
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Ara, Gulshan
ORCID
Venue
Current Developments in Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-07
Volume
3
Issue
7
Pages
nzz072
ISSN
2475-2991 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1093/cdn/nzz072
PMC
PMC6635820
OpenAlex
W2952198604
Cited by
27
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6
FWCI
2.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Current Developments in Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Stars in Global Health, Grand Challenge Canada (0610-01-10)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
Keywords
peer counseling, infant feeding practices, psychosocial stimulation, early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, infant growth, child development, social-emotional development, urban slums, maternal nutrition education, Bangladesh

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review