Maternal and Child Nutritional Health: Evaluating the Impacts of Gender-Differentiated Interventions in Central Uganda

Last registered on September 18, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Maternal and Child Nutritional Health: Evaluating the Impacts of Gender-Differentiated Interventions in Central Uganda
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014350
Initial registration date
October 20, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 28, 2024, 12:50 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
September 18, 2026, 5:10 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Uganda
Region
Central

Primary Investigator

Name
Teresa Molina-Millán
Affiliation
University of Alicante
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Hardi Ahmed
PI Affiliation
University of Alicante, ILRI
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Emily Ouma
PI Affiliation
ILRI
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Nils Teufel
PI Affiliation
ILRI
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2023-10-01
End date
2025-07-31
Keywords
Gender, Other
Additional Keywords
nutrition, social norms, ASF, VHT
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Malnutrition is pervasive in Uganda, with about 30% of children experiencing stunted growth. This is linked to a lack of knowledge of good nutrition practices and social norms limiting the consumption of certain foods for vulnerable members. These challenges are most prevalent in the consumption of ASFs. In this study, we implement a combination of gender-differentiated interventions to improve the nutritional outcomes of children and mothers. In our baseline treatment (WN), we deliver a nutrition knowledge module similar to a standard Village Health Team (VHT) nutrition package, as captured by the MIYCAN Counselling Cards of the Ugandan Ministry of Health. This is only administered to women. The second treatment (WmenN) arm receives a similar nutrition knowledge intervention for males. In the third arm (WmenNSN), we implement an intervention that goes beyond the provision of knowledge and changes behaviors and social norms regarding ASF consumption. This is administered to both men and women. We test the impacts of WNSN and WmenNSN relative to the WN through a clustered randomized controlled trial.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ahmed, Hardi et al. 2026. "Maternal and Child Nutritional Health: Evaluating the Impacts of Gender-Differentiated Interventions in Central Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. September 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14350-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our project aims to improve the nutritional and dietary behaviors of children and mothers in central Uganda through a series of gender-specific information campaigns. These campaigns are designed to address both nutritional education and social norms within households. We implement the following interventions:
1. Women in the household receive nutrition information sessions - baseline intervention
2. Women and men in the household receive nutrition information sessions
3. Women and men in the household receive information on social norms surrounding food distribution within the household, in addition to nutrition information sessions for both men and women.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-20
Intervention End Date
2024-10-07

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Minimum Dietary Diversity, Consumption of protein-rich ASFs, Nutrition knowledge, Prevalence of social norms
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Household food expenditure, household non-food expenditure, participation in household activities, consumption of other food groups, and
share and value of farm output consumed by households. We will also analyze other intermediate variables, including education and related expenses, healthcare, sickness, and employment, VHT visits.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The central objective of this project is to evaluate the differential treatment effects between the two treatment groups and the control group (baseline intervention). Given that treatment assignment is random, a straightforward comparison of outcomes across treatment groups will provide us with the impact on respective outcomes. The intervention is conducted in two regions in Central Uganda, within each region villages were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups:
- T0: Information campaigns on nutrition only to women - control group
- T1: Information campaigns on nutrition to women and men.
- T2: Information campaigns on nutrition and social norms to women and men
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Randomization at the village level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
240 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,200 individuals.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
80 villages per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Vector Control Division Research Ethics Committee, Uganda
IRB Approval Date
2023-08-29
IRB Approval Number
VCDR-2023-22
IRB Name
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Institutional Research Ethics Committee (IREC)
IRB Approval Date
2023-06-26
IRB Approval Number
ILRI-IREC2023-28
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-analysis plan

MD5: 9f9639510c4523adaeeb3a64db12e4df

SHA1: 927b8add12ff6678e052355db0f5002872ef0371

Uploaded At: October 20, 2024

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 01, 2024, 12:00 AM +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials