Abstract
Introduction: Food insecurity and malnutrition among children are common in developing countries including Ethiopia. Food insecurity is probably one of the determining factors of malnutrition in children but results are inconclusive. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of household food insecurity and its association with the nutritional status of children in Gambella town. Method: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on children in April 2016 in Gambella town, west Ethiopia. Data including household food insecurity were collected from 284 households having children 6-59 months by the face to face interview using structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were measured using standard procedures to determine nutritional status of children. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association between household food insecurity and nutritional status of children. Results: The overall prevalence of household food insecurity was 59.5% with 20.1%, 23.6%, and 15.8% households were mildly, moderately, and severely food insecure, respectively. Prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting were 23.2%, 12.0% and 13.4% respectively. Household food insecurity was independently associated with stunting, but not with wasting and underweight after adjusting for possible confounders using multivariable logistic regression model. The odds of stunting were highly pronounced in those children who were from severely and moderately food insecure households. Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest high prevalence of both household food insecurity and malnutrition among children in Gambella town. Household food insecurity was significantly associated with stunting. The finding implies nutrition interventions targeting children need to address household food security.
Highlights
Food insecurity and malnutrition among children are common in developing countries including Ethiopia
The findings from this study suggest high prevalence of both household food insecurity and malnutrition among children in Gambella town
Household level food security mainly relies on household income and purchasing power of household members which again related to income distribution in the household [3]
Summary
Food insecurity and malnutrition among children are common in developing countries including Ethiopia. Food insecurity is a state or a condition in which people experienced limited or uncertain physical and economic access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs or food preferences for a productive, healthy and active life [1]. On the other hand, is achieved when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life [2]. It is related to physical existence of food stocks for consumption be it from own production or from markets. Household level food security mainly relies on household income and purchasing power of household members which again related to income distribution in the household [3]
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