African Clinical Pharmacy and Practice | 26 September 2007
Nutrition Interventions and Adolescent Growth in Nairobi Slums: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study
K, i, p, k, i, r, u, i, N, j, e, r, i, ,, A, m, u, r, i, M, w, i, h, a, k, i, ,, O, c, h, i, e, n, g, O, y, o, o
Abstract
Adolescent growth and development are influenced by various environmental factors in Nairobi slums, where access to nutritious food is often limited. A longitudinal study was conducted with adolescents aged 10-18 years from four randomly selected Nairobi slums. Participants were recruited through community health workers, and data collection included anthropometric measurements at baseline and follow-up. Height-for-age z-scores improved by an average of 0.2 SD units post-intervention (95% CI: 0.1-0.3), indicating a moderate beneficial effect on growth trajectory. Nutrition interventions were effective in promoting adolescent growth, particularly height development, but further studies are needed to explore long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Public health policies should prioritise nutrition education and access to affordable nutritious foods for adolescents living in Nairobi slums. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p<em>i)=\beta</em>0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.