Dear All,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing you and yours all the best for 2024.

In the spirit of festive quizes...but with a far more important aim to help us improve the evidence-base for future management of severe/moderate malnutrition, we are recruiting participants to understand their perceptions of post-malnutrition weight gain and growth.

Participation will involve:

Phase 1 – online questionnaire

An online questionnaire which can be completed at your convenience (approximately 10-15 minutes to finish)

At the beginning of the questionnaire, you will be asked some brief information about your professional background. You will then be asked to provide short or multiple-choice answers regarding your perceptions on optimal growth rates post-malnutrition and aims of malnutrition programmes. This will involve looking at some child growth charts and answering a few related questions.

Please remember there's are no right/wrong answers - it's not a test! Hence no need to overthink/spend too long! We merely want to understand how you and others currently see these issues, so a gut reaction is more than OK).

Phase 2 – In-depth interview (ONLY IF YOU HAVE TIME / WANT TO ALSO DO THIS)

At the end of the online questionnaire, you will have the option to provide your email address and tick a consent box if you are willing to be contacted for a more in-depth interview to help us further understand your perceptions on the topic. If you have expressed consent to be approached for the in-depth interview, you may be selected to take part in an online interview (approximately 30-45 minutes). This will take place at a time convenient to you over the next few weeks. Interviews will follow up on answers from the questionnaire, helping us gain further understanding on your perceptions of post-malnutrition growth, aims of malnutrition treatment programmes, and their relations to long-term risks of non-communicable diseases.

PLEASE HELP US! WE REALLY VALUE YOUR INSIGHTS AND EXPERTISE!

We are looking for participants from a range of backgrounds working in sectors relevant to severe malnutrition and child health, as it is important to consider all perspectives.

If you would like to take part, please click the link below which will take you through to the study’s information sheet and consent form. After you have provided consent, the link will take you to the page of the online questionnaire.

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/lshtm/shortened-v6-1-perceptions-and-understandings-of-post-malnutrit

Please feel free to share this email/link with colleagues as you wish.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Kind regards and many thanks again (and all the best for 2024!!!)

Marko

Dr. Marko Kerac

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine