Behavior Profiles are a stand-out tool in the Think | BIG (behavior integration guidance) suite of social and behavior change tools.  Using Think | BIG ensures that your program takes a whole ecosystem approach and is behavior-led, not intervention-driven.  Behavior Profiles first appear in Step 4, during phase one Focus and Analyze, of the three-phase system that comprises BIG.

Using Nutrition Global Behavior Profiles

The Global Nutrition Behavior Profiles analyze nutrition-specific behaviors critical to reaching the goal of reducing malnutrition in young children, with a focus on stunting and wasting. Reviews done by the Lancet, Cochrane Reviews, and other meta-analyses substantiate the importance of these behaviors in reducing malnutrition.

Each behavior has been written as something the primary actor, in all cases the caregiver or the woman (pregnant, lactating) will do. The steps represent the actions this primary actor must take to practice the behavior and are generally, but not always, sequential. Informed by a global literature review, these Global Behavior Profiles highlight some of the pathways to change for these behaviors. They are not intended to take the place of context-specific research.

These Global Behavior Profiles can help you:

1. Demonstrate the pathways to change from behavior to strategies, emphasizing the importance of behavior-led (not intervention-driven) programming.
2. Hold discussions with stakeholders on how an activity might be refined based on the identified pathways to change.
3. Engage with stakeholders on how activities might be aligned around behaviors and the pathways to change.
4. Think through some of the inhibiting and motivating factors shown to impact nutrition behaviors.
5. Identify some of the actors, sectors, and strategies that might be required to impact the behavior in your context.
6. Make the case for context-specific development or adaptation of promising interventions.

How to Use the Global Nutrition Behavior Profiles provides more detailed guidance.

To build your own Behavior Profiles, select the online or offline tool under Analyze.

Contact us if you have questions or don’t see the kind of Behavior Profile sample you need. We’re here to help!