Summits - SBCC and C4D
Gathering in person to advance informed and engaged societies
Summits - SBCC and C4D
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Psychosocial stimulation improves the development of undernourished children in rural Bangladesh

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Hamadani, J.D., Huda, S.N., Khatun, F., and Grantham-McGregor, S.M. (2006).Psychosocial stimulation improves the development of undernourished children in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Nutrition, 136, 2645–52

Abstract

Undernutrition in early childhood is associated with poor mental development and affects 45% of children in Bangladesh. Although limited evidence shows that psychosocial stimulation can reduce the deficits, no such interventions have been reported from Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Program (BINP) has provided nutrition supplementation to undernourished children through community nutrition centers (CNCs). We added psychosocial stimulation to the treatment of undernourished children in a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects on children's development and growth and mothers' knowledge. Twenty CNCs were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups with 107 children in each group. We also studied 107 nonintervened better-nourished children from the same villages. Pre- and postintervention measurements included children's height, weight, development assessed on Bayley Scales, behavior ratings during the test, and a questionnaire on mothers' knowledge of childrearing. The intervention comprised home visits and group meetings with mothers and children for 12 mo. Intervention benefited children's mental development (4.6 +/- 2.0, P = 0.02), vocalization (0.48 +/- 0.23, P = 0.04), cooperation (0.45 +/- 0.16, P = 0.005), response-to-examiner (0.50 +/- 0.15, P = 0.001), emotional tone (0.33 +/- 0.15, P = 0.03), and mothers' knowledge (3.5 +/- 0.49, P < 0.001). At the end, undernourished controls had poorer mental (-4.6 +/- 2.0, P = 0.02) and motor (-6.6 +/- 2.2, P = 0.003) development, were more inhibited (-0.35 +/- 0.16, P = 0.03), fussier (-0.57 +/- 0.16, P < 0.001), less cooperative (-0.48 +/- 0.17, P = 0.005), and less vocal (-0.76 +/- 0.23, P = 0.001) than better-nourished children. Intervened children scored lower only in motor development (-4.4 +/- 2.3, P = 0.049). Neither group of undernourished children improved in nutritional status, indicating that treatment had no effect. In conclusion, adding child development activities to the BINP improved children's development and behavior and their mothers' knowledge; however, the lack of improvement in growth needs to be examined further.