Abstract
BackgroundMalnutrition in children is a major public health concern. This study aimed to determine the association between dietary diversity and stunting, underweight, wasting, and diarrhea and that between consumption of each specific food group and these nutritional and health outcomes among children.MethodsA nationally representative household survey of 6209 children aged 12 to 59 months was conducted in Cambodia. We examined the consumption of food in the 24 hours before the survey and stunting, underweight, wasting, and diarrhea that had occurred in the preceding 2 weeks. A food variety score (ranging from 0 to 9) was calculated to represent dietary diversity.ResultsStunting was negatively associated with dietary diversity (adjusted odd ratios [ORadj] 0.95, 95% confident interval [CI] 0.91-0.99, P = 0.01) after adjusting for socioeconomic and geographical factors. Consumption of animal source foods was associated with reduced risk of stunting (ORadj 0.69, 95% CI 0.54-0.89, P < 0.01) and underweight (ORadj 0.74, 95% CI 0.57-0.96, P = 0.03). On the other hand, the higher risk of diarrhea was significantly associated with consumption of milk products (ORadj 1.46, 95% CI 1.10-1.92, P = 0.02) and it was significantly pronounced among children from the poorer households (ORadj 1.85, 95% CI 1.17-2.93, P < 0.01).ConclusionsConsumption of a diverse diet was associated with a reduction in stunting. In addition to dietary diversity, animal source food was a protective factor of stunting and underweight. Consumption of milk products was associated with an increase in the risk of diarrhea, particularly among the poorer households. Both dietary diversity and specific food types are important considerations of dietary recommendation.
Highlights
Malnutrition in children is a major public health concern
Children who lived in a better-off household were more likely to consume staple foods, animal source foods, milk products, green leafy and orange color vegetables, pulses, and oils and fats than those from poorer households
Children who lived in the coastal area had the highest average food variety score (FVS), further, the average FVS was higher in urban than in rural area
Summary
Malnutrition in children is a major public health concern. This study aimed to determine the association between dietary diversity and stunting, underweight, wasting, and diarrhea and that between consumption of each specific food group and these nutritional and health outcomes among children. Malnutrition is a major public health concern and an underlying cause of morbidity and mortality, among children younger than 5 years of age, and it is a contributing cause of more than one-third of all childhood deaths [1,2,3]. Wasting refers to low weight-for-height where a child is thin for his/ her height, but not necessarily short. This is known as an indicator of acute malnutrition.
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