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In the context of rural Bangladesh, we assess whether agriculture training alone, nutrition behavior communication change (BCC) alone, combined agriculture training and nutrition BCC, or agriculture training and nutrition BCC combined with gender sensitization improve: (a) production diversity, either on household fields or through crop, livestock, or aquaculture activities carried out near the family homestead; and (b) diet diversity and the quality of household diets. All treatment arms were implemented by government employees. Implementation quality was high. No treatment increased production diversification of crops grown on fields. Treatment arms with agricultural training did increase the number of different crops grown in homestead gardens and the likelihood of any egg, dairy, or fish production but the magnitudes of these effect sizes were small. All agricultural treatment arms had, in percentage terms, large effects on measures of levels of homestead production. However, because baseline levels of production were low, the magnitude of these changes in absolute terms was modest. Nearly all treatment arms improved measures of food consumption and diet with the largest effects found when nutrition and agriculture training were combined. Relative to treatments combining agriculture and nutrition training, we find no significant impact of adding the gender sensitization on our measures of production diversity or diet quality. Interventions that combine agricultural training and nutrition BCC can improve both production diversity and diet quality, but they are not a panacea. They can, however, contribute toward better diets of rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to assess the robustness of designs and tools used in nutrition social behaviour change communication (NSBCC) interventions and establish their effectiveness. EBSCOhost as an umbrella database including Medline (Ovid) and CINAHL, EMBASE, and ProQUEST databases were searched for peer‐reviewed articles from January 1960 to October 2018. Additional sources were searched to identify all relevant studies including grey literature. Studies' biases were assessed according to Cochrane handbook. Pooled estimate of effectiveness of interventions on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and child nutritional status with 95% confidence intervals were measured using random‐effects models. Eighty studies were included in this review: Fifty‐one (64%) were cluster randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 13 (16%) were RCTs and 16 (20%) quasi‐experimental. Of the included studies, 22 (27%) measured early initiation of breastfeeding, 38 (47%) measured exclusive breastfeeding, 29 (36%) measured minimum dietary diversity, 21 (26%) measured minimum meal frequency, 26 (32%) measured height for age z‐scores (HAZ), 23 (29%) measured weight for height z‐scores (WHZ), 27 (34%) measured weight for age z‐scores (WAZ), 20 (25%) measured stunting, 14 (17%) measured wasting, and 11 (14%) measured underweight. The overall intervention's effect was significant for exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (odds ratio = 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–2.11, p

This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to assess the robustness of designs and tools used in nutrition social behaviour change communication (NSBCC) interventions and establish their effectiveness. EBSCOhost as an umbrella database including Medline (Ovid) and CINAHL, EMBASE, and ProQUEST databases were searched for peer‐reviewed articles from January 1960 to October 2018. Additional sources were searched to identify all relevant studies including grey literature. Studies' biases were assessed according to Cochrane handbook. Pooled estimate of effectiveness of interventions on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and child nutritional status with 95% confidence intervals were measured using random‐effects models. Eighty studies were included in this review: Fifty‐one (64%) were cluster randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 13 (16%) were RCTs and 16 (20%) quasi‐experimental. Of the included studies, 22 (27%) measured early initiation of breastfeeding, 38 (47%) measured exclusive breastfeeding, 29 (36%) measured minimum dietary diversity, 21 (26%) measured minimum meal frequency, 26 (32%) measured height for age z‐scores (HAZ), 23 (29%) measured weight for height z‐scores (WHZ), 27 (34%) measured weight for age z‐scores (WAZ), 20 (25%) measured stunting, 14 (17%) measured wasting, and 11 (14%) measured underweight. The overall intervention's effect was significant for exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (odds ratio = 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–2.11, p < 0.001), HAZ (standardized mean differences [SMD] = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.17–0.21; p < 0.001), WHZ (SMD = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.004–0.04; p < 0.001), and WAZ (SMD = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.02–0.06; p < 0.001). Evidence shows the effectiveness of NSBCC in improving EBF and child anthropometric outcomes. Further research should test the impact on child nutritional status with clearly specified and detailed NSBCC interventions. Key messages: Some nutrition social behaviour change communication (NSBCC) interventions significantly improved exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices and child anthropometric outcomes and need to be considered while planning child nutrition interventions.Studies used different intervention protocols and operational definitions. Most studies employed a mix of the NSBCC interventions often with unspecified frequency and dosage.Future intervention studies should provide detailed implementation strategies for NSBCC interventions and use standard indicators to measure child nutritional status outcome indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]