Reducing inequities in maternal and child health in rural Guatemala through the CBIO+ Approach of Curamericas: 4. Nutrition-related activities and changes in childhood stunting, wasting, and underweight.

BACKGROUND: This is the fourth paper in our supplement on improving the health and well-being of rural indigenous Maya mothers and children in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, where the prevalence of stunting is the highest in Latin America and among the highest in the world. Reducing childhood undernutrition was one of the objectives of the Maternal and Child Health Project, 2011-2015, implemented by Curamericas/Guatemala. The implementation research portion of the Project attempted to determine if there were greater improvements in childhood nutritional status in the Project Area than in comparison areas and whether or not a dose-response effect was present in terms of a greater improvement in the Project Area with a longer duration of interventions.  METHODS: The Project provided nutrition-related messages to mothers of young children, cooking sessions using locally available nutritious foods, a lipid-based nutrient supplement (Nutributter®) for a short period of time (4 months), anti-helminthic medication, and repeated growth monitoring and nutrition counseling. Measures of height and weight for calculating the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting in under-2 children were analyzed and compared with the anthropometric data for children in the rural areas of the Northwestern Region and in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting declined in Area A from 74.5% in September 2012 to 39.5% in June 2015. Area A comprised approximately one-half of the Project Area and was the geographic area with the greatest intensity and duration of nutrition-related Project interventions. Minimal improvements in stunting were observed in the Northwestern Region, which served as a comparison area. Improvements in multiple output and outcome indicators associated with nutritional status were also observed in Areas A and B: infant and young child feeding practices, routine growth monitoring and counseling, and household practices for the prevention and treatment of diarrhea. CONCLUSION: The Project Area in which Curamericas/Guatemala implemented the CBIO+ Approach experienced a reduction in the prevalence of stunting and other measures of undernutrition in under-2 children. Given the burden of undernutrition in Guatemala and other parts of the world, this approach merits broader application and further evaluation.

Reducing inequities in maternal and child health in rural Guatemala through the CBIO+ Approach of Curamericas: 3. Expansion of population coverage of key interventions.

BACKGROUND: This is the third in a series of 10 articles describing the Curamericas/Guatemala Maternal and Child Health Project, 2011-2015, and its effectiveness in improving the health and well-being of 15,327 children younger than 5 years of age and 32,330 women of reproductive age in the Department of Huehuetenango in180 communities that make up the municipalities of San Sebastian Coatán, Santa Eulalia, and San Miguel Acatán. The Project combined the Census-Based, Impact-Oriented (CBIO) Approach with the Care Group Approach and the  Community Birthing Center (Casa Materna Rural) Approach. This combined approach we refer to as CBIO+. The Project trained women volunteers every two weeks (in Care Groups) to provide health education to neighboring households. Messages focused on the promotion of maternal and newborn health, nutrition, prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infection and diarrhea in children, and immunizations. METHODS: Household knowledge, practice and coverage (KPC) surveys were executed at baseline in January 2011 and at endline in June 2015 to measure changes in levels of knowledge of danger signs, key household practices (such as Essential Newborn Care and handwashing), and health service utilization (such as antenatal care and care seeking for a child with signs of pneumonia) in two separate Project Areas (Area A with 41 months and Area B with 20 months of full intervention implementation). RESULTS: For the 24 indicators of the interventions under the Project's control, statistically significant improvements were observed for 21 in Area A and 19 in Area B. However, for some of the interventions that required support from the government's Extension of Coverage Program (immunization, family planning, and vitamin A administration) no improvements were noted because of the cessation of the program by the government after Project implementation began. In both Areas A and B one-half of the indicators improved by at least two-fold. CONCLUSION: This community-based Project has been effective in quickly achieving marked improvements in indicators for interventions that are important for the health of mothers and children. These achievements are notable in view of the challenging context in which the Project was implemented.