Maternal and child nutrition services associated with nutritional knowledge and practices, India.

Objective: To evaluate whether maternal and child nutrition activities provided through the Indian Integrated Child Development Services scheme in India were associated with improved nutritional knowledge and practices among beneficiary women. Methods: We used a multistage sampling design to randomly select 4400 pregnant women or mothers of children younger than 2 years for a cross-sectional telephone survey. The respondents were beneficiaries of the scheme from across 11 Indian states. We used multivariate regression models controlling for sociodemographic factors to estimate the association between: scheme activities and nutrition messages heard; and scheme activities and nutrition practices. We also estimated the proportion of the total association with nutrition practices which was mediated by nutrition messages. Results: Among 110 regression models testing unique pairs of seven activities and 18 nutrition messages, 103 showed a statistically significant positive relationship (median risk ratio, RR: 1.14). For activities and nine nutrition practices, 39 out of 54 tested pairs were significantly associated (median RR: 1.16). We observed statistically significant mediation through nutrition messages for 28 out of 42 tested pairs of activities and nutrition practices. Conclusion: Receipt of the scheme's activities was associated with improved nutrition knowledge and practices. Improvements in practices were statistically mediated by improvements in knowledge. These findings suggest that a large-scale nutrition scheme with a strong counselling component could successfully change beneficiary behaviours.

Micronutrient-fortified rice improves haemoglobin, anaemia prevalence and cognitive performance among schoolchildren in Gujarat, India: a case-control study.

Anaemia is a public health problem in India. A case-control, quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a multiple micronutrient fortified rice intervention among school children (6-12 years) through the midday meal programme in Gujarat, India, over 8 months. The fortified rice provided approximately 10% Recommended Dietary Allowance of iron; 25-33% of vitamin A, thiamine, niacin and vitamin B6; and 100% of folic acid and vitamin B12. Outcomes of interest included haemoglobin concentration, anaemia prevalence, and cognitive performance. Cognitive performance was evaluated using J-PAL-validated Pratham reading and mathematics testing tools. 973 children completed the study (cases n = 484; controls n = 489). The intervention significantly increased mean haemoglobin by 0.4 g/dL (p = 0.001), reduced anaemia prevalence by 10% (p < 0.00001), and improved average cognitive scores by 11.3 points (p < 0.001). Rice fortification can help address anaemia in settings where rice is a staple food.