2.3. Participants and Recruitment
congenital abnormalities, SD
SEVERE MALNUTRITION
Children aged 4–6 months and at risk of stunting (length-for-age z-score, LAZ ≤ −1 SD and >−2 SD), and their mothers’ reported education of less than ten years were eligible for the study. Children with moderate to severe malnutrition, congenital abnormalities, or any chronic conditions at screening were excluded from the study. Field research assistants (FRAs) identified potential eligible children from the vaccination database at the Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) Centre, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The FRAs contacted the parents by phone, explained the study in brief, and obtained verbal consent to visit their households for anthropometric measurement of the index children to complete the screening process. If agreed upon, the FRAs then travelled to the households and measured the recumbent length of the index children and plotted the value on the growth chart. Parents of the children who met the eligibility criteria were invited to consent to their children’s participation in the study. FRAs handed the participant information sheet to the parents; it was explained or read to them if needed; FRAs answered all queries and concerns and obtained informed written consent from the fathers as household heads.