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ABSTRACT
The Task Force “Towards a Multidimensional Index to Child Growth”, within the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, developed a capability framework for child growth (CFCG). This framework aims to redefine child growth monitoring, expanding beyond weight and height to encompass parental capabilities. We further operationalised the CFCG in hard-to-reach haor areas of Bangladesh, resulting in the publication of a list outlining parental capabilities for child growth. This paper details the methodology and participatory process employed, offering reflections on how our research followed the criteria proposed by Robeyns for identifying capabilities. First, we built a contextualised list of capabilities for child growth based on discussions with local experts. This list underwent further adaptation for haor regions in two rounds. Initially, we used a doxastic interviewing methodology to create a draft emic list of capabilities for child growth. Subsequently, utilising an epistemic methodology, we refined the list. The doxastic interviews focused on “understanding” the interviewees; the epistemic interviews facilitated equal communication between interviewer and interviewee, promoting knowledge co-creation. This rigorous approach validates the findings with the affected communities and supports implementation of the CFCG in policy and practice. This methodology could be extended to other pertinent research areas for capability scholars.
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Notes on contributors
Barnali Chakraborty
Barnali Chakraborty is an assistant professor at the Public Health Department of North South University (NSU) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She started her career at icddr,b (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) and worked for many years at the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC and at the BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh. She received her PhD from the Groningen University of the Netherlands, her MSc in Food and Nutrition from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and her MPH from the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research areas include multidimensional child growth, capability approach, maternal and child nutrition that connect multidimensional aspects. She applies both qualitative and quantitative methods in her research to inform policy and practice.
Shrinivas Darak
Shrinivas Darak is a senior research fellow at Prayas (Health Group), a Pune non-government organization. He has received training in Medicine (bachelor, University of Pune, India, 2000), Anthropology (Master, University of Pune, India, 2002) and Demography (PhD, University of Groningen, Netherlands, 2013). He worked as an assistant professor at the University of Groningen (2013-2014) and an adjunct professor at Public Health Evidence South Asia, Manipal University, India (2015-2019) in addition to working with Prayas. His research includes quantitative and qualitative methods incorporating disciplinary perspectives from clinical epidemiology, Public Health, Anthropology and Demography.
Haisma Hinke
Hinke Haisma is director of the Population Research Centre at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen since 2021. She holds a position as professor in Child Nutrition and Population Health. She has a background (MSc) in Human Nutrition from Wageningen University (1992), and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Groningen (2004). She started her professional career at the IAEA in Vienna and worked at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil (through WHO). Her work is interdisciplinary in its nature. She combines the biological and the social context of child nutrition and population health.