Home Visits to Reduce the Prevalence of Anemia among Vulenrable Children in Peru

Last registered on September 22, 2019

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Home Visits to Reduce the Prevalence of Anemia among Vulenrable Children in Peru

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003559

Initial registration date

November 25, 2018

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

November 26, 2018, 2:19 PM EST

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

Last updated

September 22, 2019, 7:25 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Peru

Region

Sechura

Primary Investigator

Name

Manuel Barron

Affiliation

Universidad del Pacifico

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Pablo Lavado

PI Affiliation

Universidad del Pacifico

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Juan Castro

PI Affiliation

Universidad del Pacifico

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Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2018-03-02

End date

2020-09-30

Keywords

Health

Additional Keywords

Cooking practices, anemia, iron-rich foods, responsive feeding

JEL code(s)

J13, I12, O15

Secondary IDs

Abstract

We test the effectiveness of a home-visit intervention to reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among children between 6 a 36 months of age in Sechura, a poor district located in northern Peru. Our sample consists of 47 peri-urban villages, which were randomly split into treatment and control in equal proportions. The World Food Programme conducted a home-visiting program in the treatment villages, which provided caregivers with information about locally available iron-rich foods and how to cook them to maximize their children's iron intake. During home visits, caregivers were also offered information about the importance of preventing anemia in young children, hygiene practices, feeding practices during illness periods, and responsive feeding. Our main outcome variables are the prevalence of anemia in children under 36 months of age, caregivers' knowledge about which local foods are rich in iron, their consumption patterns and cooking practices.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Barron, Manuel, Juan Castro and Pablo Lavado. 2019. "Home Visits to Reduce the Prevalence of Anemia among Vulenrable Children in Peru." AEA RCT Registry. September 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3559-2.0

Former Citation

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The World Food Programme is implementing a home-visiting intervention to boost the consumption of iron-rich foods by vulnerable children between 6 and 36 months of age in Sechura, a poor district located in the region of Piura in Northern Peru.

Intervention Start Date

2018-05-15

Intervention End Date

2018-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin concentration) and nutritional status (height and weight for age) of children under 36 months of age. All of these measured at the end of the program and 6 months after the program had ended.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Consumption of iron-rich foods (frequency, volume); responsive feeding practices; percentage of children with diarrhea; feeding practices during diarrhea episodes; knowledge about iron-rich foods; consumption of iron supplements.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

There are 47 peri-urban villages in Sechura, 23 of which were randomly selected for these visits. The remaining 24 villages are the control group.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

Peri-urban village ("asentamientos humanos")

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

47 villages

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,000 children

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

23 villages in treatment, 24 villages in control.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

We powered the study on our main outcome, the prevalence of anemia. With type-I error at 5%, type-II error at 20%, and with an ICC of 0.0375 (obtained from the DHS) the MDE is 0.2 standard deviations. All else equal, with an ICC of 0.09, the MDE is 0.25 standard deviations.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB