%0 Journal Article
%T Home visits by neighborhood Mentor Mothers provide timely recovery from childhood malnutrition in South Africa: results from a randomized controlled trial
%A Ingrid M le Roux
%A Karl le Roux
%A W Scott Comulada
%A Erin M Greco
%A Katherine A Desmond
%A Nokwanele Mbewu
%A Mary Rotheram-Borus
%J Nutrition Journal
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2891-9-56
%X Mentor Mothers were trained to conduct home visits. Mentor Mothers went from house to house in assigned neighborhoods, weighed children age 5 and younger, and recruited mother-child dyads where there was an underweight child. Participating dyads were assigned in a 2:1 random sequence to the Philani intervention condition (n = 536) or a control condition (n = 252). Mentor Mothers visited dyads in the intervention condition for one year, supporting mothers' problem-solving around nutrition. All children were weighed by Mentor Mothers at baseline and three, six, nine and twelve month follow-ups.By three months, children in the intervention condition were five times more likely to rehabilitate (reach a healthy weight for their ages) than children in the control condition. Throughout the course of the study, 43% (n = 233 of 536) of children in the intervention condition were rehabilitated while 31% (n = 78 of 252) of children in the control condition were rehabilitated.Paraprofessional Mentor Mothers are an effective strategy for delivering home visiting programs by providing the knowledge and support necessary to change the behavior of families at risk.Childhood malnutrition is a serious global problem, causing the deaths of 3.5 million children under 5 years old each year, as well as over a third of the disease burden in this age group [1]. Over one fifth of all children worldwide are underweight [1]. Globally, childhood malnutrition declined somewhat during the 1990's; however, the prevalence of undernourished children in Africa actually increased during that time [2]. In South Africa, 7% of children under 5 die each year; and 12% of under-5 children are underweight; 5% of South African children less than 5 years old suffer from wasting (low weight for height), and over a quarter of under-5 children suffer from stunting (low height for age) [3].The cascading effects of childhood malnutrition include diminished immune functioning; which leads to greater susceptibility
%U http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/56