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CompletedNCT04581993Updated Aug 16, 2023

Effectiveness of SNF and SBCC to Prevent Stunting Among Children in Afghanistan: a Quasi-experimental Study

An interventional study of Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar and Lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ) in Stunting and Malnutrition, Child, sponsored by Aga Khan University. Completed at 1 site in Afghanistan. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 49 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-08-16.

Sponsored by Aga Khan University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
33,100
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
6 Months to 49 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Over the years, there has been some progress made in reducing stunting in Afghanistan, the prevalence remains high with half of the provinces experiencing rates above the WHO alert threshold. As part of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP), the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to implement a stunting prevention programme in collaboration with Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) through its Public Nutrition Department (PND) in selected locations with stunting rates above 45%. The programme will emphasis on appropriate nutrition support in the '1000 days' window of opportunity with special focus on proven effective nutrition interventions such appropriate breast feeding, complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, malnutrition treatment and prevention, WASH.

Read the detailed description

Over the years, there has been some progress made in reducing stunting in Afghanistan, the prevalence remains high with half of the provinces experiencing rates above the WHO alert threshold. As part of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP), the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to implement a stunting prevention programme in collaboration with Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) through its Public Nutrition Department (PND) in selected locations with stunting rates above 45%. The programme will emphasis on appropriate nutrition support in the '1000 days' window of opportunity with special focus on proven effective nutrition interventions such appropriate breast feeding, complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, malnutrition treatment and prevention, WASH. This will therefore take the form of an integrated approach ensuring the targeted beneficiaries are supported to access nutrition assistance as well as other complimentary interventions provided in-kind by study partners or promoted through social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). WFP will target pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and children aged 6-23 months but will also engage men and players that influence maternal infant and young child nutrition practices. Through this programme, children aged 6-23 months will receive lipid-based nutrient supplement - medium quantity (LNS-MQ) to complement their diets while PLW will receive Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar.

An operational research study was embedded in the stunting prevention programme by credible third-party to determine the extent to which the new actions will influence nutrition outcomes and practices. Introducing the provision of SNF, SBCC as well as formulation and adoption of local culturally acceptable recipes for complementary feeding from locally available nutritious food would be new additions to the current Community Based Nutrition Program (CBNP) package in the implementation phase. During the project implementation, emphasis will be placed will be placed on the adoption of the locally formulated complementary foods as well as application of knowledge and practices promoted through the SBCC activities as part of the exit strategy and ensuring a lasting impact of the project.

Therefore, the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan proposes an operational research study with mix-methods including formative research, quasi-experimental design to evaluate the stunting prevention programme and process evaluations for stronger evidence base on the effectiveness of proposed interventions on prevention of stunting and developing viable programmes on nutrition under "real" operational conditions.

02

Conditions studied

  • Stunting
  • Malnutrition, Child

Keywords

  • Stunting
  • Children
  • Specialized Nutritious Foods
  • Social and Behavior Change Communication
  • Afghanistan
03

In context

Growth Disorders

227 studies on the registry are indexed under Growth Disorders; 25 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 33,100 is above the median of 413 across 143 interventional studies indexed under Growth Disorders.

Browse Growth Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Aga Khan University is the lead sponsor of 294 studies on the registry; 43 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Months to 49 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Pregnant and lactating women
  • Children 6-23 months
  • Willing to participate

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non pregnant and lactating women
  • Children >24 months
  • Refuse to participate
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Factorial assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
33,100 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention

    Pregnant and lactating women (PLW) will receive Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar and children aged 6-23 months will receive lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ). Social and behavior change communication (SBCC), community mobilization, referrals, identification of model families, food demonstrations, local recipe) ration/beneficiary entitlement cards will be provided for easy verification and tracking during delivery of intervention.

    Dietary Supplement: Super Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar · Dietary Supplement: Lipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ) · Behavioral: Social and behavior change communication (SBCC)

  • No intervention
    Control

    Control districts will receive routine health care services available in the study area.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementSuper Cereal - wheat soya blend with sugar

    Pregnant and lactating women will received Super Cereal during pregnancy and first six months of lactation.

  • Dietary supplementLipid-based nutrient supplement-medium quantity (LNS-MQ)

    Children will receive LNS during 6-23 months of age.

  • BehavioralSocial and behavior change communication (SBCC)

    SBCC will be provided to improve care-givers knowledge, attitudes and practices related to infant and young child feeding.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Reduction in stunting

    10% reduction in stunting among children 6-23 months in the intervention compare to control

    Time frame: 18 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Aga Khan Health Services
    Faizabad, Badakhshan, Afghanistan
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 16, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04581993
Collaborators
Ministry of public Health Afghanistan, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), The Aga Khan Foundation, Aga Khan Health Services
Responsible party
Dr Sajid Bashir Soofi (Professor, Aga Khan University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 9, 2020
Start date
Feb 1, 2021
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2022
Completion
Dec 31, 2022
Last update
Aug 16, 2023

Study contacts

Sajid B Soofi, MBBS, FCPS
principal investigator · Aga Khan University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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