Association of cash transfer and nutrition message intervention with nutrition status of children aged 6-59 months in the universal child benefit pilot programme in Nyando Sub-County, Kenya
Introduction: children under five years are highly vulnerable to malnutrition. Even though cash transfer programs targeting young children are increasingly implemented, evidence of their impact remains limited. The effectiveness of nutrition messaging delivered to caregivers is also not well established. This study therefore assessed the effectiveness of the cash transfer and nutrition message intervention on the nutrition status of children aged 6-59 months in the universal child benefit pilot program in Nyando Sub-County. Methods: a mixed-methods study assessed 400 selected households participating in a cash transfer pilot program in Nyando Sub-County. Quantitative data on child nutrition outcomes were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, while qualitative data were gathered through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Children aged 6-59 months were included in the analysis. Results: most households (97.3%) reported using the cash transfer for food purchases. The prevalence of underweight declined from 27.8% to 7.6% (p < 0.001), and stunting reduced from 40.0% to 15.4% (p < 0.001). There was no significant change in wasting (p = 0.529). Early initiation of breastfeeding increased from 74.1% to 87.6% (p < 0.001), while bottle feeding declined from 83.3% to 2.7% (p < 0.001). Minimum dietary diversity decreased from 37.1% to 22.2% (p = 0.009). Among children aged 24-59 months, receipt of nutrition messages through phone audio messages was significantly associated with stunting, facility-based nutrition messaging with wasting, and early breastfeeding initiation with both underweight and stunting. Conclusion: the findings suggest that integrating nutrition messaging with cash transfers could be more effective in improving child nutrition outcomes than cash transfers alone, with important implications for community nutrition programming.