Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact on infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of mothers who were neighbors of mothers participating in a nutrition Behavior Change Communication (BCC) intervention in rural Bangladesh. METHODS: We analyzed data from 300 mothers whose neighbor participated in a nutrition BCC intervention and 600 mothers whose neighbor participated in an intervention that did not include BCC. We constructed measures capturing mothers' knowledge of infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) and measures of food consumption by children 6-24m. The effect on these outcomes of exposure to a neighbor receiving a nutrition BCC intervention was estimated using ordinary least squares and probit regressions. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Study ID: NCT02237144). RESULTS: Having a neighboring…