Growth Promotion for Child Development : proceedings of a colloquium held in Nyeri, Kenya, 12-13 May 1992

A colloquium of 24 participants from 12 countries was organized by Cornell University the Canadian International Development Agency and the International Development Research Centre of Canada and held in Nyeri Kenya over May 12-13 1992. The objectives of the colloquium were to review what is known about child growth promotion and growth monitoring (GM); consider the scientific basis for judging the effectiveness of child GM strategies and the role of GM in such programs; outline the circumstances conditions and actions necessary for GM to be successful while discussing to what extent current forms of GM have contributed to growth promotion; identify gaps in research knowledge; and produce recommendations on growth promotion strategies and program management for governments international agencies NGOs and donor organizations. Participants were selected for their expertise and experience in health promotion and represented the disciplines of community health nutrition policy formulation and planning anthropology education and public policy analysis. Some participants invited in the area of growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) were unable to attend. Together they emphasized that growth promotion is a human right and that physical cognitive and psychosocial development must all be considered. The revised edited versions of 21 papers presented are included under the headings of history principles and implementation of GMP; frameworks for growth assessment and promotion; research evaluation and case studies; and action research needs and policy.