title: Nutrition interventions for children aged less than 5 years following natural disasters: a systematic review protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malnutrition among children is a serious public health problem in the aftermath of any natural disaster. We will review the various nutrition interventions for children aged <5 years in countries where natural disasters occurred and analyse the effect on nutrition-related outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will conduct a systematic review on nutrition intervention studies following natural disasters that were published between January 2000 and December 2015. Study selection will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool will be used for randomised controlled trials and Risk of Bias Assessment for Non-Randomized Studies (RoBANS) will be used for non-randomised studies. The quality of evidence will be assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) guidelines. If sufficient data are available, we will conduct meta-analyses to establish the relationship between nutrition interventions and nutrition outcome indicators. All statistical analyses will be performed using Review Manager (Rev Man) V.5.3 for Windows. Heterogeneity of the data will be tested using the standard χ(2) test. A fixed-effect model will be used for the studies with high heterogeneity (p value>0.10, I(2)≤50%). For dichotomous and continuous data, relative risk (RR) and mean difference with 95% CI will be used respectively. Subgroup analysis will be performed for studies with low heterogeneity (p value ≤0.10). We will use Z score with the level of significance set at p value <0.05 to test the total effect. Funnel plots will be used to detect publication bias.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  As primary data will not be collected, formal ethical approval will not be required. The results will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and the media.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) number CRD42015023243 was registered on 1 June 2015.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Pranil Man Singh
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Rolina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhital
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Huma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Subhani
mesh_terms: D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004190:Disasters; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D017594:Publication Bias; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: natural disasters; nutritional intervention; stunting; under five children; wasting