Effects of an Early Stimulation Curriculum for a National Public Parenting Program in Colombia on Child Development: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

In this paper, we evaluate the effects of the implementation of a structured early stimulation curriculum and a nutritional intervention through public parenting support services for vulnerable families living in rural areas... [ view full abstract ]

In this paper, we evaluate the effects of the implementation of a structured early stimulation curriculum and a nutritional intervention through public parenting support services for vulnerable families living in rural areas of Colombia, on children’s development and parental behaviors. We use a clustered randomized controlled trial that assigns 87 municipalities to treatment and control, to evaluate the effects of these interventions on children growth and development. 1,460 children younger than 1 year of age were assessed at baseline. We assessed program effects on children’s nutritional status by anthropometric measures, cognitive, receptive and expressive language, and fine and gross motor using the Bayley scales of infant development-III and socio-emotional development based on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. The interventions had positive and significant effects on cognition (0.15 SD), receptive language (0.11 SD), expressive language (0.14 SD) and gross motor development (0.14 SD). We also report a reduction in the risk of stunting of -0.13 SDs. We do not find any effects on socio-emotional development. We report positive and statistically significant effects on a variety or parental behaviors.