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The step-by-step manual, called ProPAN, is aimed at Ministries of Health, NGOs and international organizations working to improve child health in Latin America. It was developed jointly by the Pan American Health Organization, Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Nutrition Research Institute of Peru, and Institute of Public Health of Mexico with primary financial support from IFM.
ProPAN describes a detailed process to identify nutritional and dietary problems, determine why they occur, and design and evaluate an intervention plan. By providing crucial funding for ProPAN, IFM hopes to further realize its commitment to protect and promote the health of infants and young children through adequate and nutritious infant feeding.
ProPAN consists of four modules:
- Module I provides questionnaires and instruction guides that enable the user to identify specific dietary and feed inadequacies, policies that lead to them, and the context within which they occur. A software package is also provided to enable users to analyze data collected and generate a list of new feeding practices and foods to improve problems identified.
- Module II helps users test the acceptability and feasibility of items from Module I through household behavior and recipe trials. The outcome of Module II will be a list of practices that a community is willing and able to adopt.
- Module III provides guidelines for the design of an intervention plan including strategies, activities, materials, and messages that can be useful in promoting the desired changes.
- Module IV encourages the development of an effective monitoring and evaluation plan.
ProPAN has the potential to alter the face of child nutrition in Latin America, especially among needy populations. Not only does the manual spell out the path to successful programs, it offers a vision for how various groups can work together to eliminate child hunger and malnutrition. IFM is honored to be part of this effort.
The complete Manual is available for download at http://www.paho.org/English/AD/FCH/NU/ProPAN-index.htm.
A Spanish language version is available at:
http://www.paho.org/Spanish/AD/FCH/NU/ProPAN-index.htm.
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