USAID Advancing Nutrition develops, curates, packages, and shares multi-sectoral nutrition knowledge to help you stay on top of developments and evidence in global nutrition programming.
Tools for Designing and Conducting Social and Behavior Change Evaluations
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderBehavior Change for Nutrition
This short document provides practical tools for improving nutrition social and behavior change evaluations. It complements Measuring Social and Behavior Change in Nutrition Programs: A Guide for Evaluators and Evaluating Social and Behavior Change Components of Nutrition Activities: A Design Guide for USAID Staff.
The Neglect of Culture in Global Health Research and Practice
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderGender
Reframing research and interventions to ensure that they reflect the structure, roles, and resources of indigenous cultures is critical. Global research and funding institutions should support more culturally grounded research and programs to increase their relevance, effectiveness, and impact.
Enabling Better Complementary Feeding: Guidance and Workbook
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderComplementary FeedingWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
This workbook introduces basic concepts of social and behavior change design; implementation; and monitoring, evaluation, and learning to improve complementary feeding practices.
Behavioral Solutions for Child Feeding Before and After Illness
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderChild NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
Behavioral design guided the development of solutions that support families to continue feeding their young children during periods of illness and more food in the two weeks following an illness. Solutions also provide community- and facility-based health workers with resources and approaches to support families.
Behavioral Barriers to Feeding Young Children During and After Illness
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderChild NutritionComplementary Feeding
Behavioral factors can impede optimal complementary feeding—during and after illness. Findings point to how programs can equip community- and facility-based health workers with tools, messages, and other resources to guide and encourage families to feed children appropriately during illness and recovery.
Women's Empowerment, Maternal Depression, and Stress: Evidence from Rural Burkina Faso
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Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Researchers found a significantly negative relationship between the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index score and maternal stress and depression. Self-efficacy and respect among household members were important drivers of this inverse relationship.
Efficacy of Behavioral Interventions to Improve Maternal Mental Health and Breastfeeding Outcomes: A Systematic Review
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderBreastfeeding
Behavioral interventions had statistically significant positive effects on maternal mental health and breastfeeding and most showed a decrease in self-reported depression and/or anxiety symptoms in parallel with an increase in breastfeeding duration and/or exclusivity.
Social and Behavior Change and GenderBehavior Change for Nutrition
A Social and Behavior Change (SBC) approach is central to achieving many of USAID’s nutrition goals, but what is SBC and how can we tell if we’re doing it well?
Integrating Gender into Nutrition Programs: Program Guide
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderAdolescent NutritionBehavior Change for NutritionComplementary FeedingFood SystemsInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
This guide is for nutrition program planners and implementers who aim to integrate gender into global or country-based multi-sectoral nutrition activities.
Social and Behavior Change and GenderBehavior Change for Nutrition
A social and behavior change (SBC) work plan should reflect implementation and adaptation of the SBC approaches of a program to ensure the work stays focused on achieving the desired social and behavior change outcomes each year. Nutrition program planners and managers can use this checklist to consider SBC content to include in an annual work plan or assess a draft.
Social and Behavior Change and GenderBehavior Change for Nutrition
A social and behavior change strategy provides a “road map” to achieve key social and behavioral outcomes. Nutrition program planners can use this checklist to prepare and outline a new SBC strategy under development.
Social and Behavior Change and GenderBehavior Change for Nutrition
Nutrition programmers can use this tool to select one or more research methods when gathering information needed to design any nutrition social and behavior change program or activity. It guides users in following these three key steps to selecting research methods that answer their research questions.
Behavioral Barriers to Feeding Young Children During and After Illness
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderInfant and Young Child Feeding RecommendationsBehavior Change for NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
Qualitative research, informed by behavioral science, helps to explain why young children do not receive enough food and breastmilk during and after illness to recover and grow well.
Behavioral Solutions for Child Feeding During and After Illness
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderInfant and Young Child Feeding RecommendationsBehavior Change for NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
In close collaboration with caregivers, health providers, programmers, and policymakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Breakthrough ACTION and USAID Advancing Nutrition used behavioral design to develop solutions that support families so they can continue feeding their young children during periods of illness and feed children more in the two weeks following illness.
Measuring Women's Empowerment: Gender and Time-Use Agency in Benin, Malawi and Nigeria
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderGender
Women’s ability to exercise time-use agency was conditional on gendered power dynamics and other barriers within households, which together are related to gender norms. Future research should examine how to measure time-use agency in surveys and should explore patterns of time-use agency among diverse groups and contexts.
Identifying Effective Message-Framing Techniques in Behavior Change Communication for Healthy Diets: An Experimental Study of Promoting Biofortified Maize Adoption in Ethiopia
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderMicronutrient InterventionsNutrition Sensitive Agriculture
Nutrition education increased demand for nutritionally enhanced crops, while gain-framed messaging (e.g., achieving something) resulted in higher willingness to pay for nutritionally enhanced maize than loss-framed messaging. Motivational orientations and individuals’ risk perceptions impacted the effect of framed messages.
Social Behavior Change to Improve Maternal Nutrition: Exploring New Resources Webinar
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Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Throughout the life cycle, women have unique nutritional needs, particularly during adolescence, pregnancy, and lactation. Improving women’s nutrition during these periods has multiple benefits for maternal health and wellbeing, newborn and young child survival, health and nutrition, all producing positive effects on the next generations.
Illustrative Behaviors to Improve Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderFood SafetyNutrition Sensitive AgriculturePrivate-Sector EngagementWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
This tool highlights behaviors related to food supply, food environment, and food and water use and presents examples of what is required to ensure behaviors are nutrition sensitive. It will help activity designers and implementers design more effective approaches to increase the adoption of behaviors to improve nutrition outcomes.
Association Between Intimate Partner Violence and Nutritional Status of Married Nepalese Women
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderAnemiaGenderMaternal Nutrition
Emotional and physical intimate partner violence (IPV) was significantly associated with increased risk of overweight/obesity, sexual IPV was significantly associated with increased risk of underweight (measured by body mass index), and controlling behavior was significantly associated with increased risk of anemia.