Implementation of Care for Child Development and Implications on Early Childhood Development: A Pilot Study in Lebanon

Background: Responsive stimulation and/or enhanced nutrition interventions delivered to children through health programs shows improved cognitive, language, and motor, and the social-emotional status. This could benefit young children in Lebanon and worldwide to improve their developmental potential.

Aim: This study aims to implement Care for Child Development (CCD) intervention for children aged 0-3 years within a supportive environment in Day Care Centers and to investigate its effectiveness on early child development.

Methodology: CCD program will be implemented in 10 randomly selected daycare centers in Lebanon where three providers in each center will be trained (CCD-group). Another group of 10 day care centers will serve as controls (WV-group). 228 Children in each group will receive either early stimulation based on CCD and education from the World Vision Infant and Young Child Feeding (WV-IYCF) project (CCD-group) or education from the WV-IYCF project (WV-group). Caregivers' knowledge and behaviors will be assessed before and after the intervention using a predetermined questionnaire and behavioral checklist. Early child development will be assessed using Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 (ASQ-3) and Bayley Scale for infant Development (BSID-III).

Expected Outcome: Implementation of CCD program in day care centers will be feasible and will lead to enhanced early child development. This study will serve as a prototype for program implementation throughout the country and the region.