Table 2

Summary of articles describing stunting-related interventions in Guatemala 2000–2018

StudyDesignNutrition specific Interventions*Brief summary
Li et al 16 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting educational attainment outcomes for adults who had previously participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Stein et al 20 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting the intergenerational impact of prior childhood supplementation trial on birth length
Conlisk et al 19 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting reduced fasting glucose among men who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial on birth length. Among supplemented women, the effect was only seen among those born thin
Stein et al 44 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting improvement in some adult cardiovascular risk factors and no evidence for increased cardiovascular risk among those who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Begin et al 21 Individually randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationReports no differential impact on stunting for four different supplemental foods, containing either bovine serum concentrate or whey protein concentrate, with or without micronutrients
Hoddinott et al 17 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting the positive economic impact on adult income for those who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Stein et al 45 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting the positive impact on reading comprehension and abstract reasoning among adults who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Maluccio et al 18 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting improved grade completion and reading and nonverbal cognition among adults who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Behrman et al 46 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationINCAP Study publication, reporting improvements in offspring growth, including stunting, for women who had participated in the prior childhood supplementation trial
Mazariegos et al 22 Individually randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationIn a rural indigenous population, reports lack of impact on stunting of either zinc supplementation or low-phytate corn
Krebs et al 23 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationA Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research multi-country study, including rural Guatemala, showing no impact of meat or fortified cereal supplementation on stunting
Newman et al 47 Cluster randomised, single-levelDietary supplementationA Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research study. Exploration of between-group differences from the negative Krebs et al 23 study, showing that between-group variation or issues with protocol fidelity did not explain the lack of intervention impact on stunting
Jensen et al 26 Cluster randomised, multiple-levelDietary supplementation, complementary feeding practicesMulti-level intervention, including food supplementation and behaviour change interventions around complementary feeding practices, showing improvements in household dietary diversity
Palacios24 Quasi-experimental, single-levelDietary supplementationPrenalysis and postanalysis showing improvements in the linear growth of a fortified cereal product
Martinez et al 27 Individually-randomised, multiple-levelDietary supplementation, complementary feeding practicesMultiple-level intervention, including food supplementation and behaviour change interventions around complementary feeding practices, improved diet quality compared with a single-level food supplementation intervention
Martinez et al 28 Individually-randomised, multiple-levelDietary supplementation, complementary feeding practicesReports significantly improved developmental outcomes for stunted children from the Martinez (2018)27 trial with, however, no significant difference between the multilevel and single-level arms
Olney et al 29 Cluster randomised, multiple-levelDietary supplementation, complementary feeding practicesReports outcomes data from the same population studied in Jensen.26 Improvements in both early (1 month) and later (24 months) stunting, especially in clusters which received both family food rations and fortified cereal or multiple micronutrient powder targeted to the child
  • *No studies were found evaluating any nutrition-sensitive interventions, and so a column for this is not included in the table.

  • INCAP, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama.