Behaviour change communication to improve complementary feeding practices in Ethiopia

Couples' beliefs concerning paternal involvement in childcare

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15536680
AutoresYaeeun Han (0000-0002-1431-5164, Kyung Hee University, autor correspondente), John Hoddinott (0000-0002-0590-3917, Center for Global Development), Jieun Kim (0000-0002-4777-6397, Seoul National University), David Pelletier (0000-0003-0134-6460, Cornell University)
Ano2024
Volume20
Fascículo2
Páginase13628-e13628
Data de publicação2024-02-09
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMaternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mcn.13628
PMID38334313
OpenAlexW4391682559
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas38

An important cause of stunting is limited consumption of complementary foods, in terms of both quantities and nutrients. Although existing studies show a positive association between fathers' engagement and children's diet, programmes designed to improve complementary feeding practices often only target mothers. In response to this, maternal behaviour change communication (BCC), paternal BCC and food voucher programmes were designed and implemented in Ethiopia using a clustered randomized controlled trial design. The paternal BCC programme included gender-equal messages to increase fathers' participation in childcare, household labour and decision making. The research reported in this paper is an examination of the BCC programmes, characterizing the behavioural, normative and control beliefs of both mothers and fathers in BCC households compared to those in control households. In this study, a total of 40 participants were included, with 13 mother-father pairs in the BCC + food voucher group, and seven pairs in the control group. Each participant was interviewed separately. We found that BCC mothers showed more gender-equal tendencies than the control mothers despite being more rural in location. By contrast, the beliefs of BCC and control fathers were similar overall, suggesting men are more resistant to gender-equal BCC. More work is needed to develop and test effective methods for changing fathers' beliefs and practices

Behavior change communication · Consumption (sociology · Control (management · Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Normative · Population · Randomized controlled trial · Sociology · Test (biology · Voucher · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Social Psychology