Nutrition Education Package Focusing on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Tanzania

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education package on feeding practices, nutrient in-takes and growth of infants in rural Tanzania.Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial in 18 villages allocated to nutrition education package (n = 9) or routine health education (n = 9 villages), measured at baseline (6 months) and end of the trial (12 months).Setting: Mpwapwa district.Participants: Infants aged 6-12 months and their mothers.Intervention(s): Six months of nutrition education package (group education, counseling, cooking dem-onstrations) and regular home visits by village health workers.Main Outcome Measure(s): Primary outcome measure was the mean change in length-for-age z-scores. Secondary outcomes included mean changes in weight-for-length z-scores (WLZ), intakes of energy, fat, iron and zinc, the proportion of children consuming foods from & GE; 4 food groups (ie, dietary diversity) and consuming the recommended number of semisolid/soft meals and snacks per day (ie, meal frequency).Analysis: Multilevel mixed-effects regression models.Results: Mean change in length-for-age z-scores (b = 0.20, P = 0.02), energy (in kcal) (b = 43.8, P = 0.02), and fat (in grams) (b =2.7, P = 0.03) intakes were significant in the intervention but not in the control group. There was no effect on iron and zinc intakes. More infants in the intervention than the con-trol group consumed meals from & GE; 4 food groups (71.8% vs 45.3%, P = 0.002). The mean increase in meal frequency (b = 0.29, P = 0.02) and dietary diversity (b = 0.40, P = 0.01) were more significant in the inter-vention than control.Conclusions and Implications: The nutrition education package is feasible and can be implemented with high coverage, demonstrating the potential to improve feeding practices, nutrient intake and growth in rural Tanzania.