Abstract
Background and Objective: The importance of optimal nutrition should not be underestimated in population well-being and national development. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between household food insecurity (HFI) and child dietary diversity (CDD) in mother-child (24-59 months) pairs in an urban population.
 Method: HFI and CDD were assessed using primary data collected from a sample of 360 apparently healthy mother-child pairs from three local government wards in Ibadan, Nigeria. HFI was categorized as ‘food secure’ and ‘food insecure’ and the CDD score (CDDS) was classified as low (<4) and high (≥4). Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the association between HFI and CDD at P<0.05.
 Results: 90.3% of households were food insecure and 30.0% of children had a low CDDS. The proportion of children with low CDD was significantly higher (P=0.012) among food-insecure households (32.0%) compared to children from food-secure households (11.4%). Similarly, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio of high CDD given HFI was 0.266 (95% confidence interval 0.091, 0.783), P = 0.016.
 Conclusion: HFI was associated with the risk of low CDD and children from food-insecure households are about four times less likely to present high CDDS. It is vital to affirm the significance of HFI in the risk of low CDDS using a large multi-ethnic longitudinal cohort taking into cognizance relevant confounders.
Highlights
The interconnection of social, economic, and biophysical systems to meet people’s nutritional requirements is a strong determining factor for food insecurity (FAO 2018)
This study found a very high percentage of the households to be food-insecure and this was associated with the nutritional status of the children, who had high rates of stunting and underweight
It found an association between household food insecurity and low children’s dietary diversity
Summary
The interconnection of social, economic, and biophysical systems to meet people’s nutritional requirements is a strong determining factor for food insecurity (FAO 2018). Household food insecurity (HFI) is a useful proxy for understanding public health nutrition situations and crucial for meeting international nutrition targets. It is a suitable index for monitoring and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG) 2 and 3. Evidence-based primary data on the HFI status of the population in low resource settings is usually lacking, in times of economic downturn. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between household food insecurity (HFI) and child dietary diversity (CDD) in motherchild (24-59 months) pairs in an urban population. Conclusion: HFI was associated with the risk of low CDD and children from food-insecure households are about four times less likely to present high CDDS.
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