Parenting with nutrition education and unconditional cash reduce maternal depressive symptoms and improve quality of life: findings from a cluster randomised controlled trial in urban Bangladesh.

Background: Maternal post-natal depression is a global public health problem. Parenting interventions targeting children's development may also bring benefits to mothers, but few parenting interventions have been studied thoroughly.

Objectives: The study aimed to measure the effect of a parenting intervention using culturally appropriate and locally made toys, along with nutrition education and unconditional cash, on maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) and quality of life (QoL).

Effects of iron supplements and iron-containing micronutrient powders on the gut microbiome in Bangladeshi infants: a randomized controlled trial.

Anemia is highly prevalent globally, especially in young children in low-income countries, where it often overlaps with a high burden of diarrheal disease. Distribution of iron interventions (as supplements or iron-containing multiple micronutrient powders, MNPs) is a key anemia reduction strategy. Small studies in Africa indicate iron may reprofile the gut microbiome towards pathogenic species.

Every Newborn-Reach Up Early Education Intervention for All Children (EN-REACH)- a parent group intervention for school readiness in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Vulnerable children, including those with neuro-developmental delays and disabilities, often face barriers in accessing early primary education, thus hindering progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4.2. Evidence-based interventions are essential to enhancing inclusivity and establishing sustainable implementation strategies to address this challenge.

Effect of a parenting and nutrition education programme on development and growth of children using a social safety-net platform in urban Bangladesh: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although sustainable development goals mandate for quality early childhood development (ECD) interventions for children <8 years, little occurs for children <3 years, especially in urban settings in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Our primary objective was to measure the effect of an ECD-focused parenting and nutrition education on children's development through home visits using a social safety net platform of urban Bangladesh.

Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with mothers of children aged 6-16 months in 20 clusters across the Rangpur city, Bangladesh.

Factors associated with children's cognitive, language, and motor development in deprived urban settings in Bangladesh.

Background: Children's development is multifactorial. Although there have been several studies exploring the association of children's development with maternal, child, and environmental factors, we are unaware of any study that assessed those factors in children whose mothers were enrolled in a social safety net programme in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with disadvantaged children's cognitive, language, and motor development at age 6-16 months in deprived settings of urban Bangladesh and to identify relative importance of these factors of children's development.

Protocol for a randomised, multicentre, four-arm, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial to assess the benefits and safety of iron supplementation with malaria chemoprevention to children in Malawi: IRMA trial.

Introduction: Approximately 40% of children aged 6-59 months worldwide are anaemic. Iron-containing multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs) and iron supplements (syrup/drops) are used to combat anaemia in children in different parts of the world. However, evidence for functional benefits of iron supplementation in children is scarce, and potential risks remain poorly defined, particularly concerning diarrhoea and malaria.

The Reach Up Parenting Program, Child Development, and Maternal Depression: A Meta-analysis.

Background And Objectives: Evidence is needed on effective approaches to build parents' ability to promote child development feasible in low- and middle-income countries. Our objective was to synthesize impact of the Reach Up early childhood parenting program in several low- and middle-income countries and examine moderation by family and implementation characteristics.

Methods: Systematic search using PubMed and Academic Search Elite/EBSCO Host.

An Integrated Mother-Child Intervention on Child Development and Maternal Mental Health.

Objectives: To evaluate an integrated, low-cost, facility-based group intervention designed to promote child care, boost maternal mental-wellbeing, reduce harsh discipline, and improve children's health, nutrition, and early development.

Methods: In Dhaka, 30 neighborhood clusters of a low-income urban community were randomized to intervention or control groups. Mothers with children between 6 and 24 months (n = 300) who self-reported negative discipline were identified and enrolled.

Adapting Reach Up and Learn in Crisis and Conflict Settings: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study.

Objectives: In 2019, >71 million children aged <5 had spent their entire lives in conflict-affected settings. Compounding adversities including violence, poverty, and displacement have immediate and long-term effects on early childhood development, health, behavior, and well-being. In response, adaptations of Reach Up have been implemented in conflict and crisis settings.

Six-Year Follow-up of Childhood Stimulation on Development of Children With and Without Anemia.

Background And Objectives: Previously, in 30 Bangladeshi villages, 2 groups of children with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) and nonanemic (NA) iron sufficiency aged 6 to 24 months participated in 2 parallel cluster randomized controlled trials of the effect of psychosocial stimulation on neurodevelopment. The intervention was composed of weekly play sessions at home for 9 months. All children with anemia received iron treatment of 6 months.

Supplementation With Iron Syrup or Iron-Containing Multiple Micronutrient Powders Alters Resting Brain Activity in Bangladeshi Children.

Background: Anemia and iron deficiency have been associated with poor child cognitive development. A key rationale for the prevention of anemia using supplementation with iron has been the benefits to neurodevelopment. However, little causal evidence exists for these gains.

Effects of iron supplementation on neural indices of habituation in Bangladeshi children.

Background: Iron deficiency and anemia have been associated with poor cognition in children, yet the effects of iron supplementation on neurocognition remain unclear.

Objective: We aimed to examine the effects of supplementation with iron on neural indices of habituation using auditory event-related brain potentials (ERPs).

Methods: This substudy was nested within a 3-arm, double-blind, double-dummy, individual randomized trial in Bangladesh, in which 3300 8-mo-old children were randomly selected to receive 3 mo of daily iron syrup (12.

Scaling-up an early childhood parenting intervention by integrating into government health care services in rural Bangladesh: A cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Aims: We evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of utilising government health supervisors to train and supervise primary health care workers (HWs) in community clinics to deliver parenting sessions as part of their usual duties.

Methods: We randomly allocated 16 unions in the Mymensing district of Bangladesh 1:1 to an intervention or control group. HWs in clinics in the eight intervention unions (n = 59 health workers, n = 24 clinics) were trained to deliver a group-based parenting intervention, with training and supervision provided by government supervisors.

Cost-effectiveness of universal iron supplementation and iron-containing micronutrient powders for anemia among young children in rural Bangladesh: analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Universal provision of iron supplements or iron-containing multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs) is widely used to prevent anemia in young children in low- and middle-income countries. The BRISC (Benefits and Risks of Iron Interventions in Children) trial compared iron supplements and MNPs with placebo in children <2 y old in rural Bangladesh.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of iron supplements or iron-containing MNPs among young children in rural Bangladesh.

Rethinking Responsive Feeding: Insights from Bangladesh.

Young children's growth is influenced by food and feeding behavior. Responsive feeding has been shown to promote healthy growth and development, to prevent under- and overfeeding, and to encourage children's self-regulation. However, most measures of responsive feeding do not incorporate bidirectional mother-infant responsivity or early learning principles and have not been validated against observations.

Does Long-Term Enrollment in Day-Care Maintain or Increase Early Developmental Gains-Findings from an Intervention Study in Rural Bangladesh.

Objective: Community day-care centers (or crèches) are gaining popularity; access to these centers can reduce cognitive gaps. This paper describes the sustained impact of enrollment in day-cares on cognitive gains. Methods: As part of a larger study, a census of all children was conducted in 2012−2013 to identify children between 9 and 17 months of age in rural Bangladesh.

Integrating a Group-Based, Early Childhood Parenting Intervention Into Primary Health Care Services in Rural Bangladesh: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Over 250 million children globally do not reach their developmental potential. We tested whether integrating a group-based, early childhood parenting program into government healthcare clinics improved children's development, growth, and behavior.

Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 40 community clinics in the Kishorganj district of Bangladesh.

Effects of integrated psychosocial stimulation (PS) and Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) on Children's development in rural Bangladesh: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: There is evidence on benefits of psychosocial stimulation (PS) and cash transfer programmes in low- and middle-income countries on children's development. We integrated PS into an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programme for poor Bangladeshi mothers to examine the effects on children's development.

Methods: This cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in rural Bangladesh from July 2017 to December 2018 in 33 clusters, with 11 clusters randomly assigned to each of the three arms, namely i) PS + UCT ii) UCT-only and iii) Comparison.

Hair, serum and urine chromium levels in children with cognitive defects: A systematic review and meta-analysis of case control studies.

Environmental chromium exposure may cause impaired development of children. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and CINAHL were searched to identify case-control studies that reported childhood Cr exposure and cognitive development.

Benefits and Risks of Iron Interventions in Infants in Rural Bangladesh.

Background: Universal provision of iron supplements (drops or syrup) or multiple micronutrient powders to young children in low-to-middle-income countries where anemia is prevalent is recommended by the World Health Organization and widely implemented. The functional benefits and safety of these interventions are unclear.

Methods: We conducted a three-group, double-blind, double-dummy, individually randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess the immediate and medium-term benefits and risks of 3 months of daily supplementation with iron syrup or iron-containing multiple micronutrient powders, as compared with placebo, in 8-month-old children in rural Bangladesh.