title: Integrating early child development programs into health and nutrition services in Bangladesh: benefits and challenges.
abstract: Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries of the world with the highest population density. The Bangladesh government recognizes the educational and financial benefits of early childhood development (ECD) and has incorporated ECD into the national plan of action. However, ECD activities are not fully established in the country and there have been few evaluations. In this paper, we present ECD programs that are integrated into health and nutrition services in Bangladesh. We present four evaluation reports of such programs and we also include seven published research projects showing evidence that such integrations are feasible. We provide short reviews on coverage, methodology, and effects of the published reports and share our experience of challenges faced and steps taken to solve them. Overall, very few programs are based on scientific evidence and fewer are even evaluated. The research projects so far conducted are promising and there is sufficient evidence on feasibility of integrating ECD activities into nutrition and health programs. Suggestions are made on measures to overcome the implementation problems and on suitable methods to establish high-quality ECD programs in Bangladesh and in other low- and middle-income countries.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Jena Derakhshani
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hamadani
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.|International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH), Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Baitun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nahar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Syed Nazmul
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Huda
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Fahmida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tofail
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000379:methods; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D061345:Early Medical Intervention; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Bangladesh; ECD; integrated nutrition and ECD programs; psychosocial stimulation