Integrating a Group-Based, Early Childhood Parenting Intervention into Primary Health Care Services in Rural Bangladesh: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract Background: Over 250 million children globally do not reach their developmental potential. We tested whether integrating a group-based, early childhood parenting programme into government healthcare clinics improved children’s development, growth, and behaviour. Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 40 community clinics in the Kishorganj district of Bangladesh. We randomly assigned clinics (1:1) to deliver a group-based parenting interventions or to a comparison group that received no intervention. Participants were children aged 5-24 months, with weight-for-age z-score of ≤ -1.5 SDs of the WHO standards, living within a thirty-minute walking distance from the clinic (n=419 intervention, 366 control). Government health staff facilitated parenting sessions in the clinic with groups of four mother/child dyads fortnightly for one year as…