Abstract
BackgroundWasting is a consequence of food insecurity, inappropriate dietary practices, and inadequate caring and feeding practices. The present study assessed association between wasting and household food insecurity among under 5 years old children, along with other socio-demographic characteristics.MethodsThis study is a secondary analysis of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The survey is cross-sectional in design with use of standardized tools. The sampling frame used is an updated version of the frame from the 2011 National Population and Housing Census. The participants were children under 5 years of age (n = 2414). Logistic regression was carried out to identify the odds of being wasted for children belonging to different levels of food insecure households using odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals.ResultsThe prevalence of wasting increased with the level of food insecurity, from mild (9.4%) to moderate (10.8%) and to severe (11.3%). The highest proportions of wasted children were in Province 2 (14.3%), from rural areas (10.1%), born to mothers with no education (12.4%) and from a richer quintile (11.3%). Children belonging to severe food insecure households had 1.36 (95%CI 0.72–2.57) adjusted odds of being wasted and those belonging to mild food insecure and moderately food insecure households had 0.98 (95%CI 0.64-1.49) and 1.13 (95%CI 0.65–1.97) odds of being wasted respectively. Province 1 (AOR 2.06, 95%CI 1.01–4.19) and Province 2 (AOR 2.45, 95%CI 1.22–4.95) were significantly associated with wasting.ConclusionConsidering the increment in childhood wasting as per level of food insecurity, an integrated intervention should be developed in Nepal that, 1. addresses improving knowledge and behavior of community people with respect to diet and nutrition; 2. reduce the problem of food insecurity through agricultural interventions.
Highlights
Wasting is a consequence of food insecurity, inappropriate dietary practices, and inadequate caring and feeding practices
Wasting contributes to 4.7% of all deaths among children aged under 5 years globally and severe wasting is associated with 2 million deaths per year, as severely wasted children are 11 times more likely to die compared to healthy children [5]
The Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) dataset was used due to availability of the nature of data required for this research and considering the large sample size NDHS incorporates, representing national population that warrants a high precision of the findings
Summary
Wasting is a consequence of food insecurity, inappropriate dietary practices, and inadequate caring and feeding practices. The present study assessed association between wasting and household food insecurity among under 5 years old children, along with other socio-demographic characteristics. Wasting is a severe phenomenon of losing weight and is often associated with acute starvation and severe diseases [1]. It is a consequence of food insecurity, poor access to appropriate diet, inadequate caring and feeding practices such as exclusive breastfeeding or low quantity and quality of complementary food, unaffordable health care, lack of a sanitary environment including access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services [2]. The prevalence of wasting among children under 5 years was 10% in 2016 [6], which was reduced from 11% in 2011 as per Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) [7]
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