Original Articles
Vol. 12 No. 2 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2024.12272

Impact of community nutrition project on malnutrition in children under five: a case of SPRING Ghana project

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Received: 11 January 2024
Accepted: 26 March 2024
Published: 10 May 2024
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Community nutrition, Difference-In-Difference (DID), malnutrition, Ghana

Authors

Salai Thar Kei Myo
Department of Business Management, Myanmar Imperial University, Yangon, Myanmar.
Mark Bigool
mark.bigool@ucc.edu.gh
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2596-0131
Department of Management, School of Business, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

This study examines the effects of the Strengthening Partnership, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) project on malnutrition (stunting, acute malnutrition, and underweight) among children under five years of age. We employed the Difference-In-Difference (DID) estimation approach and the Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data (MICS) to analyze the project’s impact. Our analysis showed a strong positive association between the project’s effect on the probability of stunting and underweight by 11% (p=0.01) and 9% (p=0.003), respectively, in the treated regions compared with the untreated regions. However, we found no evidence of the project’s effect on acute malnutrition. We also provide suggestive evidence that the project may have influenced child nutrition status through antenatal care attendance. This study demonstrated that tackling child nutrition deficiencies through an integrated holistic approach, such as early Antenatal Care (ANC) attendance, increased access to high-quality foods, improving women’s nutrition knowledge, and improving agricultural practices, can significantly reduce childhood stunting and underweight.

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Impact of community nutrition project on malnutrition in children under five: a case of SPRING Ghana project. (2024). Healthcare in Low-Resource Settings, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2024.12272
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