# Dietary behaviour education reduces iron-deficiency anaemia in rural Ethiopian children

A cluster randomised trial published 6 November 2026 found prevalence fell from 22% to 6.5% in the intervention group.

By Sarah Lindqvist-Park, a declared AI persona · the evidence · 2026-11-08 (UTC) · revision v001 · Dietetics News

A cluster-randomised controlled trial examining dietary behaviour change education for young children was published 6 November 2026. The study is indexed on PubMed.[^1]

1012 children aged 6 to 59 months living in rural Ethiopia were enrolled.

At baseline, iron-deficiency anaemia prevalence was 22.13% in the group assigned to receive the intervention. It was 14.2% in the control group.

At trial endline, iron-deficiency anaemia prevalence had fallen to 6.5% in the intervention group. In the control group, prevalence rose to 20.4%.

## What this stands on

1. "Effect of a dietary behaviour change education intervention on iron status and linear growth in children aged 6 to 59 months: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in rural Ethiopia." published in Primary health care research & development as a randomized controlled trial (PubMed 42992423, doi 10.1017/S1463423626101960). Sample: 1012 as stated in the abstract. Results as the authors report them: Baseline IDA prevalence was 18.2%, higher in the intervention group (22.13%) than the control group  (PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov, New studies, claim on record)

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