title: Effect of poverty reduction program on nutritional status of the extreme poor in Bangladesh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Poverty alleviation programs for the extreme poor improve participants' economic status and may impact other important outcomes that are seldom evaluated. A program targeted to the extreme poor by BRAG, a development organization in Bangladesh, has been successful in significantly alleviating extreme poverty.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We hypothesized that the program also improved the nutritional status of women and preschool children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nonequivalent control, pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design that was longitudinal at the village level was used to test the hypotheses. Data were collected from a random sample of 4,131 children and 3,551 women from 3,409 households in 159 villages of 3 northern districts of Bangladesh in 2002 and 2006. Linear mixed random-intercept models accounted for clustering effects and potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The weight-for-height of children between 24 and 35 months of age from program households was significantly higher (p < .05) than that of children from control households. We found no significant differences between control and program households in three other growth and body-composition indicators in three other age categories of preschool children or in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results are important, as this is a large-scale program that has already been extended to more than half the country. The findings will contribute to judging the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of the program and in garnering support for the expansion of such programs.
authors.affiliation: Micronutrient Initiative, Ottawa. cjalal@micronutrient.org
authors.forename: Chowdhury S B
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Jalal
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Frongillo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult