Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the patterns of household food consumption and examine the factors influencing dietary diversity. Data were collected from 238 randomly selected households. Food consumption was assessed in terms of Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) with a range of 0-12. The minimum and maximum DDS were one and eight, respectively. Groups of food consumed were classified into four Quantiles (Q) and households were categorized based on quartile cut-points: Q1 (1-3 DDS), Q2 (4), Q3 (5-6) and Q4 (7-8). Chi square test was used to assess the association between the food groups and quartile level. Ordered probit regression was employed to examine determinants for household dietary diversity. Results show that more than four in ten households (43.3%) consumed less than the minimum recommended four groups of food. Proportions of households consistently decreased with increasing quartile level (43.3% in Q1 to 6.7% in Q4). Only 18% of the households were in the upper quartiles (Q3 and Q4). The DDS means by quartiles were 2.47 (Q1), 4.00 (Q2), 5.00 (Q3) and 5.89 (Q4) with the overall mean DDS of 3.52. While cereal (96.2% of the households) was the most consumed food group, there was limited consumption of vegetables (12.6%), fruits (4.2%) and fish (2.9%). Food accessibility and livelihood diversification were the major determinants of dietary diversity. Demographic and socio-economic factors mediated household’s dietary diversity at varying degree of influence.
Highlights
Food insecurity and micronutrient malnutrition are widespread public health problems that can be alleviated in part through increasing dietary diversity (Harris-Fry et al, 2015; Mphwanthe et al, 2018; Larson et al, 2019)
Studies show that higher Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) is positively associated with an increased nutrient intake, better nutritional status, dietary quality, food security and the overall wellbeing (Vandevijvere et al, 2010; Nti, 2011; Lo et al, 2012; Hooshmand and Udipi, 2013; Ares et al, 2014; Mekuria et al, 2017)
Data were collected from the inhabitants of Maasai villages located around Nainokanoka Ward in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA)
Summary
Food insecurity and micronutrient malnutrition are widespread public health problems that can be alleviated in part through increasing dietary diversity (Harris-Fry et al, 2015; Mphwanthe et al, 2018; Larson et al, 2019). Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), a qualitative measure of food consumption, has become a widely used method of determining variety in the diet and by proxy, nutrient adequacy (Labadarios et al, 2011; Arsenault et al, 2013; Martin-Prével et al, 2015). It measures the consumption of different food groups by any member of a given household over a reference period and used as an indicator of food security (Galiè et al, 2019). Negative health consequences of low dietary diversity include cognitive impairment (Lv et al, 2019), child stunting (Mahmudiono et al, 2017), cardiovascular risk (Farhangi and Jahangiry, 2018), dyslipidemia (Li et al, 2011), higher probability of metabolic syndrome (Gholizadeh et al, 2018) and higher risk of mortality (Lv et al, 2019; Gebremedhin et al, 2017)
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