The UBC was a USAID-funded longitudinal prospective cohort study of pregnant women (n= 5030) aged 15-49 years from rural North and South-Western regions of Uganda, conducted between 2014 and 2016. The aim of the UBC study was to observationally follow pregnant women and their newborns until 2 years of age and compare changes over time in communities that were part of an ongoing USAID project called the Community Connector (CC) compared to those communities that were not included in the Community Connector project.
This study aimed to assess the role of livelihoods, agriculture and nutrition in improving maternal and child nutrition and health in rural Uganda in communities that were a part of an ongoing program that was un-related to the study. The overall aim of this study was to understand the effect of participating in an ongoing program that provided support on nutrition, agriculture, water, hygiene and sanitation and the change over time in the nutritional status of mothers and children under two years of age. The specific objectives of this observational study were as follows: 1. To compare health and nutrition status of pregnant women in communities participating in the Community Connector project to those that were not participating in the program 2. To assess the aflatoxin levels in pregnancy and test its association with birth outcomes and early life growth as measured by weight and length 3. To assess environmental enteropathy in pregnancy and test its association with birth outcomes and early life growth 4. To assess access to coverage and adherence to information/messages and engagement in Community Connector project's activities 5. To determine heterogeneity in program exposure and variability in household and agro-ecological characteristics and its relationship with maternal and infant health and nutrition status
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
5,044
Tufts University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Percent of infants who were stunted
Percent of infants with a height-for-age less than -2 standard deviations
Time frame: 0-2 years old
Percent of infants who were wasted
Percent of infants with a weight-for-height less than -2 standard deviations
Time frame: 0-2 years old
Percent of infants who were underweight
Percent of infants with a weight-for-age less than -2 standard deviations
Time frame: 0-2 years old
Infants' weight at birth (kg)
Birth weight in kilograms using a seca scale, calculated as the mean of three repeated measurements on each infant
Time frame: Birth
Percentage of infants with low birth weight
Percentage of infants with birth weight less than 2500 grams
Time frame: Birth
Percentage of preterm births
Percentage of infants born with a gestational age less than 259 days
Time frame: Birth
Percentage of infants who were small-for-gestational-age
Percentage of infants at birth whose weight centiles were below the 10th percentile for their age and sex
Time frame: Birth
Head circumference measurement (cm)
Infant's head circumference measured in centimeters
Time frame: 0-2 years old
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Percent of mothers that were anemic (hemoglobin levels <11 g/dL)
Percentage of maternal anemia defined by hemoglobin levels \<11 g/dL, measured using the HemoCue test.
Time frame: through study completion, every 3 months
Percent of infants that were anemic (hemoglobin levels <11 g/dL)
Percentage of infants with anemia defined by hemoglobin levels \<11 g/dL, measured using the HemoCue test.
Time frame: 0-2 years old
Concentration of ferritin (ug/L) in mothers and infants as a biomarker for iron status
Maternal and infants' serum ferritin (ug/L) measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA) at the VitMin Lab in Germany
Time frame: 6 months for infants, mothers at birth
Concentration of soluble transferrin receptor (mg/L) in mothers and infants as a biomarker for iron status
Maternal and infants' serum soluble transferrin receptor (mg/L) measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA) at the VitMin Lab in Germany
Time frame: 6 months for infants, mothers at birth
Concentration of retinol binding protein (umol/L) in mothers and infants as a biomarker for vitamin A status
Maternal and infants' serum retinol binding protein (umol/L) measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA) at the VitMin Lab in Germany
Time frame: 6 months for infants, mothers at birth