{
    "abstract": "Inadequate maternal dietary intakes remain a public health challenge in low-income countries like Malawi and can cause adverse birth outcomes.\nTo improve maternal dietary intakes and thus reduce the prevalence of adverse birth outcomes in rural Malawi.\nWe performed a 2-armed (1:1) cluster-randomized controlled trial in Southern Malawi, enrolling pregnant women at gestational age 12-18 wk. Twenty villages (clusters) were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. A nutrition education and counseling (NEC) intervention consisted of education sessions followed by cooking demonstrations and counseling sessions. The women were encouraged to use locally available nutrient-dense foods to enhance dietary adequacy and -diversity. We applied linear programming to identify food combinations that could increase micronutrient intakes. The control group received standard antenatal health education.\nAmong the 311 women recruited, 187 (60%) completed the trial. We found no significant difference in mean birth weights recorded within 1 or 24 h of birth between the intervention and control groups. Intervention infants had greater birth length (\nTailoring NEC in food-insecure communities did not result in a significant difference in birth weight among infants of the participating mothers, but mean birth length and abdominal circumference were greater in the intervention group compared to controls. We noted that the NEC intervention favored birth weight among mothers with a lower height than the mean sample height. Our results warrant further investigation into offering tailored NEC early in pregnancy and on a larger scale.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03136393.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.",
            "firstname": "Penjani Rhoda",
            "initials": "PR",
            "lastname": "Kamudoni"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.",
            "firstname": "Lillian",
            "initials": "L",
            "lastname": "Kaunda"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Urban Development and Mobility, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg.\nDepartment of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Strassen, Luxembourg.",
            "firstname": "Marion",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Tharrey"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Nursing, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Lilongwe, Malawi.",
            "firstname": "Maggie",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Mphande"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Ministry of Health, Lilongwe, Malawi.",
            "firstname": "Shyreen",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Chithambo"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.",
            "firstname": "Elaine",
            "initials": "E",
            "lastname": "Ferguson"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Human Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.",
            "firstname": "Zumin",
            "initials": "Z",
            "lastname": "Shi"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of General Practice, General Practice Research Unit, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.",
            "firstname": "Ibrahimu",
            "initials": "I",
            "lastname": "Mdala"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.",
            "firstname": "Kenneth",
            "initials": "K",
            "lastname": "Maleta"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Center for Social Research, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi.",
            "firstname": "Alister",
            "initials": "A",
            "lastname": "Munthali"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.",
            "firstname": "Gerd",
            "initials": "G",
            "lastname": "Holmboe-Ottesen"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.\nDepartment of Haematology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.\nDivision of Human Nutrition, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa.",
            "firstname": "Per Ole",
            "initials": "PO",
            "lastname": "Iversen"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": null,
    "copyrights": "\u00a9 2024 The Author(s).",
    "doi": "10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.104506",
    "journal": "Current developments in nutrition",
    "keywords": [
        "Malawi",
        "dietary intakes",
        "infants",
        "low birth weight",
        "mothers",
        "nutrition education counseling"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2024-12-10",
    "pubmed_id": "39654971\n18206223\n37704722\n18206226\n18206224\n33691083\n18206225\n26805586\n28217860\n30047245\n22201156\n23582723\n27717614\n20237078\n32075071\n26026651\n38034903\n33475578\n25763532\n38189492\n37331760\n27573667\n25646337\n28217860\n15051853\n15069916\n17991797\n32419688\n37531548\n20407060\n38166908\n36691203\n37960232\n37862322\n35414279\n31348509",
    "results": "Among the 311 women recruited, 187 (60%) completed the trial. We found no significant difference in mean birth weights recorded within 1 or 24 h of birth between the intervention and control groups. Intervention infants had greater birth length (",
    "title": "Context-Tailored Food-Based Nutrition Education and Counseling for Pregnant Women to Improve Birth Outcomes: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Malawi.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x78850545f1f0>"
}