Evaluating Nutrition Counseling Services on Maternal Weight Gain and Child Growth in Kenyan Primary Health Centers

Nutrition counseling services play a crucial role in maternal health and child growth outcomes in primary healthcare centers across Kenya. A mixed-methods approach including quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews was employed to assess the effectiveness of nutrition counseling services provided in these settings. Nutrition counseling significantly improved maternal weight gain by an average of 2.5 kg, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 1.8 to 3.2 kg among participants who received counseling compared to those who did not. The findings suggest that routine nutrition counseling can be effectively integrated into primary healthcare services to enhance maternal and child health outcomes in Kenya. Primary healthcare centers should prioritise the implementation of structured nutrition counseling programmes, with tailored interventions for underserved populations identified through qualitative research. Nutrition Counseling, Maternal Health, Child Growth, Primary Healthcare Centers, Kenyan Context Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.