A new College of Public Health and Health Professions study is examining whether the addition of eggs to pregnant women’s daily diets can improve maternal and child health outcomes.
Led by Sarah McKune, Ph.D., M.P.H., an associate professor and interim chair of the department of environmental and global health, the Challenge Project is supported by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and builds on McKune’s prior work in Burkina Faso, which focused on behavioral change interventions to increase egg consumption among infants as a complementary feeding tool. Her work caught the attention of government partners in Rwanda.
Dr. Chhavi Tiwari (second from left) meets a multi-generational family during a pilot testing of egg delivery. Earlier this year, the team conducted community mobilization efforts to ensure community members understand the goals of the project and build trust in the team.
“Our work in Rwanda has been incredibly challenging and, already, incredibly rewarding,” McKune said. “There is real energy among Rwandan government and industry actors to invigorate the poultry and egg value chains; simultaneously, eggs are already being targeted as a tool to address malnutrition in children. Despite not ever having conducted research directly in Rwanda, I was very excited by the prospect of conducting a study to test the effects of eggs in this environment.”
In her research, much of which has been conducted in sub–Saharan Africa, McKune has focused on the complex dynamics between human health and the natural world, exploring topics ranging from climate change to hygiene to livestock ownership. She also serves as a core faculty member in the USAID Innovation Laboratory for Livestock Systems, a large USAID investment at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
The Challenge Project team spent more than two years developing a randomized controlled trial, working closely with the Rwandan government and local partners. The goal is to recruit nearly 1,000 women and follow them through pregnancy to test the effect of egg consumption (two eggs per day, with consumption directly observed by a community health worker) on birth length and other maternal and child health outcomes.
The effects of egg consumption on infant growth and development during pregnancy are not well understood, says McKune, in part, because it can be difficult to set up randomized control trials in rural communities, and these logistical challenges mean many researchers don’t attempt it.
McKune’s UF collaborators include Heather Stark, M.D., M.P.H., a clinical associate professor in PHHP’s department of epidemiology, and Juan Andrade Laborde, Ph.D., an associate professor of global nutrition with the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Partners include World Vision United States, World Vision Rwanda and the University of Rwanda.
Chhavi Tiwari, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in environmental and global health, traveled to Rwanda to prepare the field work ahead of project launch. This included working with the local field team to conduct community mobilization efforts and piloting the egg preparation and delivery to women.
“I realized how important it is to be on the ground to really understand the project and the constraints that we might face during its implementation,” Tiwari said.
For both McKune and Tiwari, their favorite part of conducting this research is working with the Rwandan people.
“I found Rwandans to be very welcoming, and the country felt like home to me,” Tiwari said. “Meeting with the community in the villages was the best part. People taught me about their culture and how to speak Kinyarwanda.”
The study is a research dream come true, McKune said.
“I’m excited about the possibility of this research. I have long believed that animal source foods that are widely available as offtake (milk and meat) could significantly change the nutritional and health trajectories of children in many low- and middle-income countries. We are going to be looking at maternal weight gain, cholesterol levels, birth outcomes, maternal stress levels, and so much more — just with this investment,” she said.
In collaboration with colleagues at the College of Medicine, the research team is applying for additional funding to extend the study, following children for the first 12 months of life, and examining additional outcomes, including neurocognitive and brain development and the gut microbiome.
