Evidence to support the use of children’s growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) is limited and uncertain, a new Cochrane Review has found.
Once a mainstay of child health clinics in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), GMP is aimed at tackling undernutrition among children aged under 5 years. It involves measuring a children’s growth at regular intervals and plotting the measurements on a chart, combined with different nutrition promotion activities.
However, there are no standard guidelines explaining how to implement GMP and the purpose and effectiveness of GMP as an approach to prevent undernutrition remains a subject of debate.
The review has been published by the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group (CIDG), based at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The CIDG prepares systematic reviews on the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions for infectious diseases.
The Cochrane Review authors synthesised the available evidence of the effectiveness of GMP in LMICs for the promotion of key child health indicators.
LSTM lead and senior authors Melissa Taylor and Dr Helen Nabwera partnered with Janet Tapkigen, Tampere University (Finland), Isra Ali, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Qin Liu, Chongqing Medical University (China), and Qian Long, Duke Kunshan University (China) for the review.
Read more via the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group website.