# Evaluating multicomponent interventions to optimize health and development for children and adolescents living in poverty

> **NIH NIH K99** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2024 · $117,883

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Over 250 million children under age 5 (43%) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) experience delays in
development which have lasting effects on academic attainment, literacy, and economic opportunities,
contributing to adverse health. Early interventions focused on responsive caregiving, early learning, and
nutrition in this context have improved short-term health and development outcomes, however, whether these
effects persist beyond 6 years of age is largely unknown. Further, few interventions have simultaneously
targeted infectious disease prevention, another known risk factor for poor childhood development that
disproportionately impacts children in LMICs. The objective of this K99/R00 proposal is to identify mechanisms
through which early WASH and nutrition interventions impact health and development, assess whether these
effects persist into adolescence, and estimate the potential impact of novel multicomponent interventions that
target multiple prevalent risk factors in early life simultaneously. The work proposes to (1) leverage data from a
large cluster randomized controlled trial in rural Bangladesh to uncover the mechanism of impact of an
effective early water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), and nutrition intervention on middle-childhood development,
(2) use population intervention effects to identify early intervention targets that take into account baseline
prevalence of risk and the confluence of risk factors that children experience in early life, and (3) follow up
children who received the early WASH and nutrition intervention to evaluate impacts on health and
development in adolescence. This work fills critical gaps in the literature regarding how early WASH and
nutrition interventions work to improve outcomes, which combinations of interventions could lead to the largest
improvements in child development outcomes, and the impact of early WASH and nutrition interventions on
later adolescent health and development outcomes. Conducted at the University of California Berkeley, the
proposed research will be guided by an exceptional mentor team with expertise spanning epidemiologic and
biostatistical methods and adolescent health. The proposed plan builds on the applicant’s background in the
design and evaluation of interventions in early childhood by providing subject matter training in (1) late
childhood and adolescent health and development; as well as methodological training in (2) causal mediation
analysis; (3) population intervention effects and target trial emulation with observational data; and (4) best
practices in reproducible and transparent research. Combined, the training and research plan prepare the
applicant to pursue their long-term goal of conducting research to improve health and development over the life
course in low-resource global settings. Aligned with NICHD’s strategic direction to improve child and
adolescent health and the transition to adulthood, this work will inform the design of future...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10865668
- **Project number:** 1K99HD114882-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Helen Osborne Pitchik
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $117,883
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10865668

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10865668, Evaluating multicomponent interventions to optimize health and development for children and adolescents living in poverty (1K99HD114882-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10865668. Licensed CC0.

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