Social mobilization and social marketing to promote NaFeEDTA-fortified soya sauce in an iron-deficient population through a public-private partnership.

Objective: The present pilot project aimed to assess the effectiveness of social mobilization and social marketing in improving knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) and Fe status in an Fe-deficient population.

Design: In an uncontrolled, before-after, community-based study, social mobilization and social marketing strategies were applied. The main outcomes included KAP and Hb level and were measured at baseline, 1 year later and 2 years later.

Setting: One urban county and two rural counties in Shijiazhuang Municipality, Hebei Province, China.

Subjects: Adult women older than 20 years of age and young children aged from 3 to 7 years were selected from three counties to attend the evaluation protocol.

Results: After 1 year, most knowledge and attitudes had changed positively towards the prevention and control of anaemia. The percentage of women who had adopted NaFeEDTA-fortified soya sauce increased from 8.9% to 36.6% (P < or = 0.001). After 2 years, Hb levels had increased substantially, by 9.0 g/l (P < or = 0.001) in adult women and 7.7 g/l (P < or = 0.001) in young children.

Conclusion: Social mobilization and social marketing activities had a positive impact on the KAP of adult women, and resulted in marked improvements in Hb levels in both adult women and young children. This should be recommended as a national preventive strategy to prevent and control Fe deficiency and Fe-deficiency anaemia.