Peer-reviewed article
Measuring the impacts of exposure to daycare quality on child development and nutrition measures through a large-scale randomised trial in Kenyan informal settlements: protocol.
Beam E, Fitzpatrick A, Reimão ME ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study protocol describes a large-scale randomised trial in Kenya examining how daycare quality affects child development and nutrition in informal settlements. The research combines a cross-sectional survey of about 4,700 children aged 0-5 across 11 counties with a cluster randomised controlled trial testing the impact of improved daycare quality. The study will measure child development using standardized assessments and nutritional status through height and weight measurements, while investigating relationships between these outcomes and household characteristics.
Key points
- The study combines observational methods with a cluster randomised controlled trial design across 11 Kenyan counties
- Approximately 4,700 children aged 0-5 in informal settlements will be assessed
- Child development will be measured using the International Development and Early Learning Assessment
- Nutritional status will be measured through height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores
- Subgroup analyses will examine differences by child sex and daycare participation
Limitations
This is a protocol paper, not results, so it cannot tell us whether the intervention actually works or what the findings will be. The study has not yet been completed, and actual implementation may differ from the planned protocol.
Abstract
Introduction High-quality early childhood education can fundamentally alter children's long-term education, earnings and well-being. In low-resourced settings, children's development is hampered by undernutrition, poverty and limited access to services. This study will generate high-quality evidence on child development from children who both attend and do not attend daycare across informal settlements in Kenya by (1) examining the relationship between child development, nutritional status and household characteristics using a large, community-based sample and (2) measuring the impact of exposure to improvements in childcare quality on child development and nutritional status. Methods and analysis We combine a cross-sectional observational study of child development and anthropometrics among approximately 4700 children aged 0-5 across 11 counties in Kenya with a cluster randomised controlled trial that measures the impact of improved daycare quality on these outcomes. We use International Development and Early Learning Assessment to measure child development and record child height and weight to measure height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores. Primary analyses will (1) estimate associations between child development outcomes and nutritional status using multivariable regression models, adjusting for prespecified covariates; and (2) examine differences in outcomes between children attending daycares in communities exposed to quality improvements and children attending daycares in control communities. Subgroup analyses will examine heterogeneity by child sex and daycare participation. Ethics and dissemination The Strathmore University Institutional Scientific and Ethical Review Committee (SU-ISERC) has provided ethical review for this study, with initial approval SU-ISERC1602/23. This study has also received IRB approval from The Ohio State University (#2023B0300). Written informed consent will be obtained from caregivers before participation. We will disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs and presentations to local stakeholders, and we will publish de-identified data and replication code on a public repository. Trial registration number AEARCTR-0011747.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Exposure to improvements in childcare quality in daycare settings
- Population
- Children aged 0-5 years in informal settlements across 11 counties in Kenya
Key finding
Study will measure association between child development outcomes and nutritional status using multivariable regression models