Reduce Childhood Maltreatment and Promote Development

Background (brief): 1. Burden: The uniqueness of each child is tremendously influenced by interaction between nature and nurture during critical period of brain development that promotes foundation of brain architecture through neuronal connections. 2. Knowledge gap: Young children in Bangladesh are prone to multiple physiological and psycho-social risk factors e.g. poverty, maltreatment, malnutrition, disease, parental illiteracy, maternal depression and lack of stimulation, all of which are preventable. Little is reported about any comprehensive package of development that addresses most of these early childhood risks and promotes optimum early childhood development (ECD). 3. Relevance: The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate an integrated, low cost, and feasible center based approach that focuses on positive parenting of children during early life that will promote early stimulation, minimize childhood maltreatment, boost up of maternal self-esteem and healthy thinking and improve health and nutritional (HN) status of children. Hypothesis (if any): This integrated intervention will promote maternal child-care practices and mental health that will finally improve their children's growth, micro-nutrient status, early brain development compared to control group. Objectives: To see the effect of an integrated intervention (ECD + HN) on growth, micro-nutrient status, child development along with effect on maternal child-care practices and mental health. Methods: Randomly selected 2 groups will be identified as intervention and control (150 mothers' from15 clusters in each group). Mothers of 8-23 months old children living in slums and practice harsh child-disciplining will be identified as study population. The mothers of intervention (ECD+HN) group will receive fortnightly group sessions for 11 months that will include combined messages on a) psycho-social stimulation, b) positive parenting to prevent child maltreatment and c) cognitive behavioral the