2.4.3. Data Collection
At baseline, a short questionnaire on the social-economic status of the household, household food security, infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices (including 24-h food recall), use of micronutrient supplements and supplementary feeding provided through the PHC, morbidity (history and current), gestational age, birth weight and length and immunization status was administered. All data were recorded on tablets using a digital questionnaire (Survey2 Go). At the endline, data on 24-h food recall, height, weight, MUAC, haemoglobin concentration and parents’ observation of their child’s preferences (taste, colour and smell) of the RUTF products were collected.Mothers/caregivers were provided with a monitoring book—and an explanation of its use—to record the frequency and timing of RUTF consumption, frequency of breastfeeding and intake of any other foods on a daily basis. A field worker made weekly home visits to collect these recordings, as well as information on intra-household sharing of the RUTF and morbidity (weekly recall). The field worker counted the remaining sachets and weighed any open sachets to calculate the total amount of RUTF product consumed. During this visit, the field worker also provided counselling to the mothers/caregivers on RUTF consumption, including not sharing the RUTF with other household members and giving other foods only after the child had finished their daily dose of RUTF. In addition, field workers maintained regular communication with the mothers/caregivers through texting and phone calls. Phone credit was provided to mothers/caregivers and cadres for this purpose. They reminded mothers/caregivers to feed their child the RUTF, fill in the monitoring book and addressed any problems that arose. On the day after the field worker’s visit, mothers/caregivers who were able to do so were asked to take a picture of the package and their entry in the monitoring book so that the field workers could provide remote feedback. Mothers/caregivers without a camera phone were visited three times in the first week to make sure they completed the monitoring book correctly.