An interventional study of Intensive growth support in Malnourished Children and Stunting of Growth, sponsored by Günther Fink. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in Zambia. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 12 Months, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-07.
Sponsored by Günther Fink · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
In a recently completed intervention study, more than 50% of children in Lusaka were found to be stunted by age two, even when nutritional supplements were provided. It seems likely that these high rates of stunting are primarily due to inadequate basic nutritional intake. The main goal of this project is investigate this conjecture through a small pilot study that will be conducted in the urban area of Lusaka.
This is very small cluster-randomized trial, with 64 families recruited from 4 selected neighbourhoods. 2 of these neighbourhoods will be selected for nutritional counselling and food support.
Children ages 6-12 months old and their caregivers will be included. Exclusion criteria: low birth weight; planning to move; twins.
All families will complete a baseline and endline assessment - each lasting approximately 30-45 minutes.
Children in the two intervention clusters will receive a visit every two weeks to discuss child nutrition, and to monitor height and weight gains. We will also provide additional food/groceries to mothers in the treatment group, i.e. to the 32 families in the two neighborhoods selected for treatment.
167 studies on the registry are indexed under Growth Disorders; 24 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 64 is below the median of 278 across 95 interventional studies indexed under Growth Disorders.
Browse Growth Disorders studies →This is the only study on the registry with Günther Fink as lead sponsor.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:Only children who are 6-12 months old at the time of recruitment and their caregivers in selected areas will be eligible for the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
Families in control group will not receive any support through the study
Families will receive intensive support including bi-weekly nutritional counseling and weekly dropoffs of locally acquired food.
Other: Intensive growth support
For women in the intervention group, we will develop a nutritional plan for the child in collaboration with the mother. Mothers will then receive a visit every other week - during this visit, children's health and nutrition will be discussed, and height and weight will be measured by field officers. Detailed food recommendations will be made based on national and international infant and young child feeding guidelines. To ensure appropriate foods are available, field workers will drop off local foods on a weekly basis.
Height-for-age z-score
Children's height for age z-score after six months of interventions
Time frame: measured approximately 6 months after initiation of intervention
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jan 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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