Educational intervention for altering water-sanitation behavior to reduce childhood diarrhea in urban Bangladesh: impact on nutritional status.
We evaluated whether an educational intervention that was effective in reducing childhood diarrhea also improved childhood nutritional status. Fifty-one communities of 38 families each were randomized to receive the intervention or no intervention. During 1 y of follow-up the rate of diarrhea (per 100 wk) in children less than 6 y in the intervention group was 5.89 episodes whereas that in the nonintervention group was 7.55 episodes (protective efficacy 22%; p less than 0.0001). During the same follow-up period children in both groups exhibited comparable patterns of weight gain; 1 y after the intervention the mean weight for age of children in both groups was 76% of the NCHS standard. No significant differences were observed in the proportion of each group that experienced a major deterioration or improvement of nutritional status. We conclude that an intervention that reduces rates of childhood diarrhea may not necessarily also improve nutritional status.
Stanton
B F
BF
International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Clemens
J D
JD
Khair
T
T
D001459:Bangladesh; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D012499:Sanitation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid