April 9, 2025 – Liezel Engelbrecht, a Knowledge Fellow in the 2024 cohort, completed her project titled Integrating Nutrition and Stimulation in Early Childhood Development Interventions: A Scoping Review of Implementation Processes and Outcomes. This scoping review examined features of integrated nutrition and psychosocial stimulation programs for early childhood development (ECD) from 18 interventions and explored implementation processes and outcomes. It synthesizes findings and makes recommendations for the design of similar interventions.
Key findings indicate that interventions integrating nutrition activities with child development approaches like play are effective in improving children’s (< 6 years) cognitive and language development. However, the impact of integrated interventions on a child’s physical growth (e.g., height and weight) is effective only when nutrition supply components (e.g., food provision, agricultural inputs, fortified foods) are included.
Policymakers and program planners can use these findings to inform the design, adaptation, and scale-up of integrated interventions, ensuring that resources are directed toward approaches with demonstrated effectiveness. This can help avoid the costly expansion of ineffective models and promote greater impact.