Effectiveness of a Positive Deviance Program in Reducing Childhood Undernutrition

Changes in body weight after 3 months of intervention in children,Changes in weight-for-age z score after 3 months of intervention in children,Changes in height-for-age z score after 3 months of intervention in children,Changes in weight-for-height z score after 3 months of intervention in children,Changes in dietary intake after 3 months of intervention in children,Changes in diet quality after 3 months of intervention in children

Globally, childhood malnutrition remains a public health concern. Malnutrition can be diverse
 from undernutrition to overnutrition. A young child, primarily refers to those under the age
 of 5, is suffering from undernutrition when the child is lacking of adequate nutrition that
 necessary for proper growth and health due to direct or indirect causes such as not having
 enough food. In fully urbanized area such as Kuala Lumpur, urban poor children tend to face
 greater deprivations such as lower education and poor health which significantly influence
 their daily diet and nutritional status. Hence, urban poor children who are living and
 growing up in such underprivileged environment should not be neglected. Since young children
 are generally depending on maternal feeding for daily diet, intervention that focus on
 encouraging positive change in maternal feeding practices might be efficient in reducing
 childhood undernutrition. The positive deviance (PD) approach may consider as a better
 alternative to empower mothers by promoting new behaviour to feed their children. Hence, this
 study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition program using PD approach in reducing
 undernutrition among urban poor children aged 3 to 5 years old in Kuala Lumpur.