Functionality of nutrition steering and technical committees and quality of child growth monitoring program in northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

AbstractMalnutrition in Ethiopia is still a major public health problem. Effective growth monitoring activities are difficult to integrate with local circumstances and a national program and are also given less weight. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the functionality of the nutrition steering and technical committees on the quality of the growth monitoring program in the central Gondar zone of northwest Ethiopia. A mixed-methods study was employed among 51 committee members using purposive sampling and 8 months data. The participation rate and the proportion of faltering rates were computed. A data extraction sheet and an in-depth interview guide were prepared, respectively. The overall participation rate was 44.94% in Gondar Zuria and 50.62% in East Demiba districts, respectively. Similarly, the percentage of children faltering was significantly higher in Gondar Zuria district (2.85%) than in East Dembia district (0.48%). Neither the nutrition steering committee nor the technical committee were fully functional to support the program. In addition, a lack of materials, knowledge, and skills in data analysis and interpretation, as well as refresher training, are barriers to program implementation. The overall participation rate is very low in the study area. Program materials were not available, and the technical and steering committees are not fully functional. As a result, preparing working documents, assigning a specific task to strengthen the existing steering and technical committees, providing refresher training, and ensuring the availability of important program materials are very crucial.