Researching interventions for health in rural Kenya

A group of researchers, including Assistant Professor Amy Pickering, conducted a study on the effects of a combination of sanitation and nutrition interventions in Kenya.
A pair of hands washing in a sink.

In a new paper published in The Lancet Global Health, researchers enrolled pregnant women from villages in rural Kenya and evaluated outcomes after one year and again after two years of follow-up work. The goal of the study was to assess whether water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition interventions reduced diarrhoea or growth faltering in children.

The activities were tested in combination and individually, and the researchers found that none of the interventions reduced diarrhoea, and only the interventions that included nutrition counseling and nutrient supplementation improved growth. According to the study, it is unclear whether combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutritional interventions reduce diarrhoea or improve growth more than single interventions.