Suaahara Formative Research Report

Suaahara is a 5 year, USAID-funded project designed to improve the nutrition women and children living in Nepal. Suaahara tackles undernutrition by examining the variety of factors that contribute to poor nutritional status including poor dietary intake and poor health status. Healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies is also an important part of the project given Suaahara’s mandate to reduce stunting among children and anemia and chronic energy deficiency among women.

The purpose of this formative research was to describe infant and young child feeding practices, caregiving practices and hygiene behaviors in 6 of the 20 districts in Nepal where Suaahara works. Researchers also identified determinants of those behaviors. Additionally, they identified families’ aspirations for their children. This report describes what waslearned and how th team will apply this learning to improve the nutritional status of women and children.

A full listing of current practices, barriers, target audiences and behavior change strategies appears at the end of this report and constitutes core recommendations and ways forward.

Source: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/ Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019