The Effect of Early Childhood Development Interventions on the Health of Children under Five Years of Age in Aromo Sub-county, Lira District.

Abstract

AJOK SUSAN (2012-M121-10002) The Effect of Early Childhood Development Interventions on the Health of Children under Five Years of Age in Aromo Sub-county, Lira District This study was conducted to assess the effect of Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions on the health of children under five years of age in Aromo sub-county, Lira district by Medical Teams International (MTI) through trained mothers. The objectives that guided the study were to: identify the different ECD interventions; determine the nutritional practices for children under one year of age whose mothers were trained; assess the nutritional status of the children under five years of age whose mothers were trained on ECD; assess the vaccination status of the children under one year of age whose mothers were trained on ECD; examine the perceptions of the community towards the implementation and outcome of the early childhood interventions; and identify the challenges faced during implementation of the interventions. The study involved qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data that was analysed and presented using figures and tables. A total of 78 respondents participated in this study: 39 from Aromo sub-county (the study population) and 39 from Barr sub-county (the comparison population). Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and also a set of guiding questions for the focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The study found out that there is a significantly large proportion of mothers in Aromo sub-county who practiced good nutritional practices for children under 12 months of age; children under five years of age have better nutritional status and also that more of them accessed vaccination for DPT3 than those in the comparison sub-county of Barr. These ECD interventions had a positive impact on the health of children under five in Aromo sub-county. Therefore, the study recommends that initiatives be put in place for continuity of these interventions by the trained mothers such as continuous refresher trainings, recruit and train more mothers, involve more stakeholders in this programme so that they can facilitate the roll out of the programme to the neighbouring sub-counties. Key Words: Effect, Early Childhood, Development Interventions, Health,Lira District.