POSITIVE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES IN PROGRAMS FOR WOMENS AND CHILD NUTRITION IN BANGLADESH: SCALING UP TIPPY-TAPS | 20th International Congress of Nutrition , Granada, Spain, September 15–20, 2013.
E. Williams1, Y. Arafat2, T. Williams3, A. Guyon3 1SPRING/Bangladesh, Helen Keller International, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2SPRING/Bangladesh – Save the Children, Dhaka, Bangladesh 3SPRING – JSI Research and Training, Arlington, USA
Background and objectives: Bangladesh has made notable progress in reducing child mortality and morbidity. However, high rates of undernutrition remain, with 41% of children Methods: In 2012, USAIDs SPRING project collaborated with Bangladeshs Food Security and Nutrition Surveillance Program conducting a baseline survey of nutrition, hygiene and agricultural practices among 770 households in SPRINGs intervention areas. Respondents were asked about use of soap in handwashing over the last 24 hours and unprompted responses on reasons they washed their hands.
Results: Though up to 60% of households reported hearing messages on appropriate handwashing only 12% and 40% washed their hands with soap before feeding children and after defecation, respectively. Therefore, SPRING refined its interventions targeting pregnant and lactating women, and children under two to increase positive nutrition and hygiene practices and access to diversified diet. Through advocacy, training and supportive supervision with government and non-governmental groups, SPRING promotes adoption of ‘small-doable actions’on nutrition and hygiene following life cycle approach and has provided training to 1839 health workers and 485 agriculture and community workers. SPRING established 783 Farmer Field Schools (FFS) providing low income households with access to diversified and nutritious vegetables, fruits and animal source foods. Household ‘tippy-taps were introduced to improve adoption of hygiene practices in target households. SPRING is the first project to scale up tippy-taps to rural Bangladesh. Seventy percent of trained agriculture workers report including nutrition and hygiene with making of tippy-taps in agriculture extension sessions and approximately 6000 households participating in FFS have installed tippy-taps to date. This successful and rapid adoption of practices is attributed to streamlined and practical messages given across multiple platforms.
Conclusions: Integrating tippy-taps into nutrition, hygiene and homestead food production seems a promising strategy to improve handwashing behaviors.
