article · Frontiers in Nutrition
Childhood undernutrition remains a widespread challenge in rural settings across sub-Saharan Africa, driven in part by unequal household decision-making, resource control, and food access. A community-based evaluation in Cross River State, Nigeria, examined the impact of a 16-week gender equality initiative delivered to 200 child-caregiver pairs. The programme combined nutrition education, women's empowerment sessions, and structured engagement with male partners. Children whose caregivers participated experienced marked gains in growth and diet compared with a control group. Height-for-age and weight-for-age scores improved significantly, and the proportion of children receiving a sufficiently diverse diet nearly doubled, rising from 41.2 percent to 78.8 percent. Concurrently, stunting prevalence in the intervention cohort fell from 36.5 percent to 23.5 percent over the 16-week trial, whereas it increased among controls. Incorporating gender-transformative elements into community nutrition programmes can substantially strengthen early childhood physical development.
Child undernutrition impairs lifelong physical and cognitive development in resource-constrained communities. Traditional nutrition programmes often overlook household gender dynamics, which can limit women's authority over food allocation. By demonstrating that male partner engagement alongside female empowerment delivers substantial gains in child growth and diet within four months, this evidence provides health authorities with a direct blueprint for reversing community stunting trends.
The abstract does not indicate a commercial application pathway, as it evaluates a public health and policy intervention rather than a commercial product. Public health agencies, non-governmental organisations, and policymakers could adopt this applied and tested community programme framework within national nutrition strategies and development initiatives targeting child health and gender equality.
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Introduction Childhood undernutrition remains a critical public health problem globally, with the highest prevalence concentrated in rural, resource-constrained settings across sub-Saharan Africa. Gendered asymmetries in food access, resource control, and household decision-making substantially exacerbate nutritional disparities. This study assessed the effectiveness of a targeted gender equality intervention, delivered over a 16-week (approximately 4-month) period, on dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes in children under 5 years in Cross River State, Nigeria. Methods A community-based quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test control group design was conducted, enrolling 200 child-caregiver pairs allocated equally to intervention and control groups drawn from two purposively selected, socio-demographically comparable Local Government Areas (LGAs). The intervention comprised nutrition education, women’s empowerment sessions, and structured male partner engagement. Baseline and end-line (16-week) data on child anthropometry and minimum dietary diversity (MDD) were analyzed using independent t -tests, Chi-square tests, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusting for baseline scores, child age, and household size. Results Stunting prevalence was approximately 36% in both groups at baseline. Over the 16-week study period, ANCOVA-adjusted marginal means at end-line revealed significantly greater improvements in the intervention group for height-for-age z-scores (HAZ: −0.89 vs. −1.51; F = 10.05, p = 0.002), weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ: 0.53 vs. 0.21; F = 12.6, p = 0.001), and MDD (4.19 vs. 3.06; F = 79.6, p < 0.001). Stunting prevalence fell from 36.5% to 23.5% in the intervention group over the study period, whilst rising from 34.2% to 50.6% in the control group. The proportion of children achieving adequate MDD increased from 41.2% to 78.8% in the intervention group across the 16 weeks, compared with 45.6% to 49.4% in the control group. Conclusion A 16-week gender-transformative nutrition education and empowerment strategy significantly improved dietary diversity and anthropometric outcomes in children under 5 years. Integration of such approaches into national nutrition policy frameworks is warranted, with particular relevance to advancing Sustainable Development Goal targets on zero hunger, child health, and gender equality.
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DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1873005
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