Browsing by Author "Westerberg, Ane C."

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    Child development, growth and microbiota : follow-up of a randomized education trial in Uganda
    (International Society of Global Health, 2019) Atukunda, Prudence; Muhoozi, Grace K. M.; Van Den Broek, Tim J.; Kort, Remco; Diep, Lien M.; Kaaya, Archileo N.; Iversen, Per O.; Westerberg, Ane C.
    Background: Undernutrition impairs child development outcomes and growth. In this follow-up study of an open cluster-randomized intervention trial we examined the effects of an education package delivered to mothers in rural Uganda on their children’s development, growth and gut microbiota at 36 months of age. Methods: The parental trial included 511 mother-child pairs recruited when the children were 6-8 months. In that trial, a nutrition, stimulation and hygiene education was delivered to mothers in the intervention group while the control group received routine health care. A follow-up sample of 155 pairs (intervention n = 77, control n = 78) were re-enrolled when the children were 24 months. Developmental outcomes were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III) composite scores for cognitive (primary endpoint), language and motor development. Development outcomes were also evaluated using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Other outcomes included growth and gut microbiota composition. Results: The demographic characteristics were not different (P > 0.05) between the intervention and control groups and similar to those of the parental study. The intervention group had higher BSID-III scores than controls, with mean difference 10.13 (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.31-17.05, P = 0.002); 7.59 (1.62-13.66, P = 0.01); 9.00 (2.92-15.40, P = 0.005), for cognitive, language and motor composite scores, respectively. An improvement in the intervention compared to the control group was obtained for both the ASQ and the MSEL scores. The mean difference in height-for-age z-score was higher in the intervention compared to the control group: 0.50 (0.25-0.75, P = 0.0001). Gut microbiota composition did not differ significantly between the two study groups. Conclusions: The maternal education intervention had positive effects on child development and growth at three years, but did not alter gut microbiota composition. This intervention may be applicable in other low-resource settings.
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    Nutrition, hygiene and stimulation education for impoverished mothers in rural Uganda : effect on maternal depression symptoms and their associations to child development outcomes
    (MDPI, 2019-07-11) Atukunda, Prudence; Muhoozi, Grace K. M.; Westerberg, Ane C.; Iversen, Per O.
    Optimal nutrition improves child development, and impaired development is associated with maternal depression symptoms, in particular in low resource settings. In this follow-up of an open cluster-randomized education trial, we examined its effects among mothers in rural Uganda on their depression symptoms and the association of these symptoms to child development. The education comprised complementary feeding, stimulation, and hygiene. We assessed 77 intervention mothers and 78 controls using Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores. Child development was assessed with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (BSID-III) composite scores for cognitive, language and motor development. Compared to controls, the intervention reduced depression symptoms’ scores with mean (95% CI) differences: −8.26 (−11.49 to −1.13, p = 0.0001) and −6.54; (−8.69 to −2.99, p = 0.004) for BDI II at 20–24 and 36 months, respectively. Similar results were obtained with CES-D. There was a negative association of BDI-II scores and BSID-III cognitive and language scores at 20–24 (p = 0.01 and 0.008, respectively) and 36 months (p = 0.017 and 0.001, respectively). CES-D associations with BSID-III cognitive and language scores showed similar trends. BSID-III motor scores were associated with depression scores at 36 months for both BDI-II and CES-D (p = 0.043 and 0.028, respectively). In conclusion, the group education was associated with reduced maternal depression scores. Moreover, the depression scores were inversely associated with child cognitive and language development outcomes.