Evaluation report
Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial - Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) Study: Community facilitator-led participatory learning and action (PLA) women’s groups to improve infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in South Asian infants aged < 2 years in East London
Logan Manikam, Priyanka Patil, Tala El Khatib, Subarna Chakraborty, Delaney Douglas- Hiley et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This pilot study tested a community-led participatory learning and action programme to improve infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices among South Asian families with children under 2 years old in East London. The intervention was delivered through women's groups facilitated by community members. The study found the intervention was feasible to implement and showed some positive changes in feeding behaviours, though no significant changes in children's weight were observed in the 6-month follow-up period.
Key points
- The intervention met predefined criteria for feasibility, suggesting it could be scaled up to a larger trial
- Children showed increased food-responsiveness and decreased emotional overeating and undereating after the intervention
- Video analysis found a decrease in force-feeding practices among parents
- No significant changes were observed in children's BMI z-scores, possibly due to the shortened 6-month follow-up period
- Participants reported improved awareness and knowledge-sharing about infant care and feeding
Limitations
The study was shortened from 12 months to 6 months due to COVID-19, which may have been insufficient to detect changes in children's weight. The evaluation focuses on feasibility and behavioural changes rather than longer-term health outcomes.
Abstract
Abstract Background The first 1000-days of life are a critical window and can result in adverse-health consequences due to inadequate nutrition. South-Asian (SA) communities face significant health-disparities, particularly in maternal and child-health. Community-based-interventions, often employing Participatory-Learning-and-Action (PLA) approaches, have effectively addressed health-inequalities in lower-income-nations. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing a PLA-intervention to improve infant-feeding and care-practices in SA communities in London. Methods Comprehensive-analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility/fidelity of this pilot-randomised-controlled-trial. Summary-statistics were computed to compare key-metrics (participant consent-rates, attendance, retention, intervention-support, perceived-effectiveness) against predefined-progression-rules guiding towards a definitive-trial. Secondary-outcomes were analysed, drawing insights from sources, such as The-Children’s-Eating-Behaviour-Questionnaire (CEBQ), Parental-Feeding-Style-Questionnaires (PFSQ), 4-Day-Food-diary, and the Equality-Impact-Assessment (EIA) tool. Video-analysis of children’s mealtime behaviour trends was conducted. Feedback-interviews were collected from participants. Results Process-outcome measures met predefined-progression-rules for a definitive-trial which deemed the intervention as feasible. The secondary-outcomes analysis revealed no significant changes in children’s BMI z-scores. This could be attributed to the abbreviated follow-up period of 6-months, reduced from 12-months, due to COVID-19-related delays. CEBQ analysis showed increased food-responsiveness, along with decreased emotional-over/undereating. A similar trend was observed in PFSQ. The EIA-tool found no potential discrimination areas, and video-analysis revealed a decrease in force-feeding-practices. Participant-feedbacks revealed improved awareness and knowledge-sharing. Conclusion The study validates the feasibility of a community-oriented, co-adapted Participatory-Learning-and-Action approach for optimising infant-care among South-Asians in high-income countries. It underscores the potential of such interventions in promoting health-equity and improving health-outcomes. Further research is required to evaluate their wider impact.