Mobile Gaming App to Improve Child Nutrition in Nigeria

March 24, 2025 updated by: Jeanne Freeland-Graves, University of Texas at Austin

Impact of a Mobile Gaming App on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices of Teenage Mothers, and Nutritional Status of Children (0 - 24 Months) in Nigeria

Undernutrition among children born to teenage mothers deserves urgent attention in Nigeria, where 27.2% of girls (15-19 years) living in rural areas have begun childbearing. The overall goal of this study is to develop, validate and evaluate the effects of a mobile gaming app on the infant and young child feeding practices of teenage mothers, and the nutritional status of children (0 - 2 years).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Undernutrition among children born to teenage mothers deserves urgent attention in Nigeria, where 27.2% of girls (15-19 years) living in rural areas have begun childbearing. Pregnancy elevates the nutrient needs of teenage girls due to competing requirements for fetal development, and growth and maturity in the adolescent mother. The resultant children have a higher likelihood of underweight (13-fold), stunting (8-fold) and wasting (3-fold), and are over 50% more likely to die within the first month of birth, as compared to children of older mothers. Previous studies have found positive associations between maternal education/knowledge and optimum infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. Childbirth results in a sharp increase in the responsibilities and work burden of teenage mothers, negatively impacting capacity and self-efficacy for adequate child feeding. Furthermore, attempts to improve IYCF practices often target older women. The overall goal of this study is to develop, validate and evaluate the effects of a mobile gaming app on the infant and young child feeding practices of teenage mothers. A secondary goal is to evaluate the anthropometric and dietary and plasma levels of microminerals of children, 0 - 24 months of age. A mobile app will be developed and validated. It will feature an interactive role-play game on recommended IYCF practices that will help educate teenage mothers about feeding young children. A 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted in 266 predominantly low-income mother-child dyads (0 - 24 months) from Nigeria. This RCT will compare the influence of the BabyThrive app vs controls who receive a delayed intervention. It will include knowledge and practices regarding exclusive breastfeeding, introduction to solid/semi-solid foods, meal frequency, dietary diversity and amount of food consumed of teenage mothers. Anthropometric measurements and plasma ferritin and zinc of children also will be evaluated.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

216

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Nigeria
    • Federal Capital Territory
      • Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
        • Center for Family Health Initiative

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

1 second to 19 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Teenage mothers with children aged 0 - 24 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children with acute infections, metabolic or feeding issues
  • Mothers younger than 14 years of age
  • HIV-positive mothers

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental
A mobile gaming app (BabyThrive) will be disseminated to teenage mothers to help them learn about exclusive breastfeeding, introduction to solid/semi-solid foods, meal frequency and dietary diversity. BabyThrive will also demonstrate how to prepare 30 nutritious recipes for complementary feeding; create a calendar and set reminders to prompt mothers to access child health services; and plot growth patterns of the baby to facilitate growth monitoring.
Behavioral: Mobile Gaming App for Nutrition Intervention
A mobile gaming app (BabyThrive) will be disseminated to teenage mothers to help them learn about exclusive breastfeeding, introduction to solid/semi-solid foods, meal frequency and dietary diversity. BabyThrive will also demonstrate how to prepare 30 nutritious recipes for complementary feeding; create a calendar and set reminders to prompt mothers to access child health services; and plot growth patterns of the baby to facilitate growth monitoring.
No Intervention: No Intervention
In addition to routine health services, teenage mothers will receive the BabyThrive app after the intervention is completed. Participants will learn about exclusive breastfeeding, introduction to solid/semi-solid foods, meal frequency and dietary diversity. BabyThrive also will demonstrate how to prepare 30 nutritious recipes for complementary feeding; create a calendar and set reminders to prompt mothers to access child health services; and plot growth patterns of baby to facilitate growth monitoring.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) knowledge and practice scores of teenage mothers
Time Frame: Baseline, Month 6 of intervention
Mean change in scores from baseline, after 6 months of intervention. Measured at baseline and at 6 months after the intervention, using the Teen Moms IYCF Questionnaire (to be validated at the beginning of this study)
Baseline, Month 6 of intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Texas at Austin

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jeanne H Freeland-Graves, PhD, RD, University of Texas at Austin

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 23, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 15, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

August 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 17, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 17, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

January 6, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 24, 2025

Last Verified

March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00001047

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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