ArticlePLOS global public health2023
Behaviour change interventions improve maternal and child nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of mHealth-Based Nutritional Interventions on Iron Status of Pregnant Women: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of nutrition education and counseling on the nutritional status of pregnant women in Ethiopia, 2025: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Changing maternal and child nutrition practices through integrating social and behavior change interventions in community-based self-help and support groups: literature review from Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Targeted social and behavior change communication (SBCC) in a high adolescent pregnancy setting of Bangladesh: a cluster-randomized study protocol engaging key family members.Implementation science : IS · 2026Trial
- An innovative Community Mobilisation and Community Incentivisation for child health in rural Pakistan (CoMIC): a cluster-randomised, controlled trial.The Lancet. Global health · 2025Trial
- Interpersonal Communication and Maternal Behavioral Practice: A Case Study of Explanatory Causal Machine Learning in Nepal.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Adherence, safety, bioavailability, and acceptability of amaranth grain flatbread during pregnancy: evidence from a cluster randomized trial in Sidama region, Ethiopia.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- CELEBRATE Feeding: Impacts of a responsive feeding behaviour change coaching intervention in child care settings.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Why are some children under 24 months still undernourished in urban and peri-urban Vientiane? A mixed-methods study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Maternal Mental Health and Child Dietary Diversity in Rural Kenya: Findings From a Pooled Analysis of 2 Baseline Studies.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Empowering consumers to purchase safe ready-to-eat chicken from street restaurants in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: impact of a multi-media behavior change campaign.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Minimum meal frequency and associated factors among children aged 6-23 months in Sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis of the demographic and health survey data.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- A strategic analysis of health behaviour change initiatives in Africa.Global health action · 2023Review
- Promoting Supportive and Respectful Maternity Care in Public Health Facilities in Sindh, Pakistan: A Theory-Informed Health System Intervention.Global health, science and practice · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 7 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Evidence that nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions can improve maternal and child nutrition status in sub-Saharan Africa is inconclusive. Using behaviour change theory and techniques in intervention design may increase effectiveness and make outcomes more predictable. This systematic review aimed to determine whether interventions that included behaviour change functions were effective. Six databases were searched systematically, using MeSH and free-text terms, for articles describing nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive behaviour change interventions published in English until January 2022. Titles, abstracts and full-text papers were double-screened. Data extraction and quality assessments followed Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines. Behaviour change functions of interventions were mapped onto the COM-B model and Behaviour Change Wheel. PROSPERO registered (135054). The search yielded 1193 articles: 79 articles met inclusion criteria, ranging from low (n = 30) to high (n = 11) risk of bias. Many that applied behaviour change theory, communication or counselling resulted in significant improvements in infant stunting and wasting, household dietary intake and maternal psychosocial measures. Interventions with >2 behaviour change functions (including persuasion, incentivisation, environmental restructuring) were the most effective. We recommend incorporating behaviour change functions in nutrition interventions to improve maternal and child outcomes, specifically drawing on the Behaviour Change Wheel, COM-B model (SORT B recommendation). To enhance the designs of these interventions, and ultimately improve the nutritional and psychosocial outcomes for mothers and infants in sub-Saharan Africa, collaborations are recommended between behaviour change and nutrition experts, intervention designers, policy makers and commissioners to fund and roll-out multicomponent behaviour change interventions.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.