Impact evaluation of different cash-based intervention modalities on child and maternal nutritional status in Sindh Province, Pakistan, at 6 mo and at 1 y: A cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Cash-based interventions (CBIs), offer an interesting opportunity to prevent increases in wasting in humanitarian aid settings. However, questions remain as to the impact of CBIs on nutritional status and, therefore, how to incorporate them into emergency programmes to maximise their success in terms of improved nutritional outcomes. This study evaluated the effects of three different CBI modalities on nutritional outcomes in children under 5 y of age at 6 mo and at 1 y.

Factors Associated With the Risk of Acute Malnutrition Among Children Aged 6 to 36 Months in Households Targeted by an Emergency Cash Transfer Program.

Background: Assessing whether and how the expenditure of emergency cash transfer programs (CTPs) relates to child nutritional status is a necessary step for informed program design and targeting.

Objective: We hypothesized that greater child food expenditures would have a protective effect against the risk of acute malnutrition in the context of a food crisis in Niger.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between food and medical expenditures and acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 36 months through an observational cohort study of 420 households enrolled in an emergency CTP in Niger.

Prevention of acute malnutrition: distribution of special nutritious foods and cash, and addressing underlying causes--what to recommend when, where, for whom, and how.

Acute malnutrition is associated with increased morbidity and mortality risk. When episodes are prolonged or frequent, acute malnutrition is also associated with poor growth and development, which contributes to stunting Nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive strategies to prevent undernutrition during the first 1,000 days from conception to 24 months of age can reduce the risks of wasting, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies. Under circumstances that exacerbate the underlying causes of undernutrition and increase the incidence of wasting, such as food insecurity related to lean seasons or emergencies, or increased incidence of illness, such as diarrhea or measles, additional efforts are required to prevent and treat wasting.

The role of unconditional cash transfers during a nutritional emergency in Maradi region, Niger: a pre-post intervention observational study.

Objective: To assess the effect of an unconditional cash transfer (CT) implemented as part of an emergency response to food insecurity during a declared state of emergency.

Design: Pre-post intervention observational study involving two rounds of data collection, i.e.

Quality and potential use of data collected during nutrition surveys: an analysis of surveys in Ethiopia.

Humanitarian agencies regularly carry out nutrition surveys to estimate the prevalence of acute malnutrition (wasting) and mortality as well as to collect data on a wide range of contributory or aggravating factors in order to identify interventions and to direct aid where it is most needed. In this study, the case of Ethiopia was used (i) to assess the proportion of 291 nutrition surveys conducted between 2003 and 2008 that used the recommended sampling method to estimate the prevalence of wasting, (ii) to assess how and what data on indicators of aggravating factors were collected, (iii) to examine whether data on such factors can be used to establish priorities for emergency assistance based on Ethiopian Government guidelines and (iv) to discuss the general value of such data. All but one survey used the recommended methods to estimate the prevalence of wasting.

Prevalence of wasting among under 6-month-old infants in developing countries and implications of new case definitions using WHO growth standards: a secondary data analysis.

Objectives: To determine wasting prevalence among infants aged under 6 months and describe the effects of new case definitions based on WHO growth standards.

Design: Secondary data analysis of demographic and health survey datasets.

Setting: 21 developing countries.