Coping strategies to achieve food security among households with children in an urban poor community in Quezon City during COVID-19

Background@#In the Philippines, the prevalence of food insecurity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the nutritional status of communities nationwide. Urban areas in particular are vulnerable to the harmful effects of food insecurity, and the effects are extended and magnified when it comes to children.@*Objectives@#This study aims to evaluate the coping strategies of households with children aged 0-10 years old in an urban poor community in Quezon City. In particular, the study will determine Coping Strategies Index (CSI) scores and the frequency of specific coping strategies used.@*Methods@#A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the coping strategies of 405 households with children in the community during the pandemic. Mothers or caregivers were given a survey inquiring about the sociodemographic data and CSI.@*Results@#Sociodemographic profiling showed that the households generally belonged to class D and E (PhP 15,000 and below) income households (73.8%). The majority of the household heads (52.6%) have their highest educational attainment at the high school level. The majority (77.5%) of the households were categorized as having low CSI classification (90%CI: 73.9, 80.8). This could indicate that relief operations conducted in the community may have helped ease their food insecurity. Coping strategies that were most frequently employed by the households were depending on less preferred or more affordable food (74.8%), rationing money for prepared food (69.1%), and purchasing food on credit (58.5%).@*Conclusion@#Low CSI classification was noted, which may be due to increased adaptation to persistent food insecurity and the utilization of coping strategies not indicated in the questionnaire. Common coping strategies used by households include reliance on less favored or less costly food items, rationing resources for prepared food, and food on credit. It is recommended that the results collected be used to target food availability and accessibility interventions in the community.

Food security status of households with children aged 0-10 in an urban poor community in Quezon City, Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background@#The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects such as community restrictions, lockdowns, and unemployment have greatly affected the household food security status in urban poor communities leading to poor accessibility of sufficient nutritious food and subsequently affecting the nutrition of children.@*Objectives@#This present study aims to determine the prevalence of household food insecurity in households with children aged 0-10 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in an urban poor community in Quezon City.@*Methodology@#A descriptive cross-sectional study was done to evaluate the food security status and experiences of households amid the COVID-19 pandemic.@*Results@#A total of 405 households were surveyed to answer questions designed to determine their general profile relative to their food security experiences during the pandemic. It was observed that the majority of the households in the urban poor community belong to Class D earning between PhP 8,001.00 - PhP 15,000.00. The heads of these households as well as caregivers mostly belong to the high school graduate level. Based on the conducted survey, it was revealed that 59.5% of the households were severely food insecure (90% CI: 55.4-63.4) and only 4.2% ( 90% CI: 2.8-6.2) were food secure. @*Conclusion@#The prevalence of food insecurity in the urban poor community is determined to be high, with 31.6% households having moderate food insecurity, while only 4.2% households are food secure. The majority of surveyed households were anxious and uncertain about their food supply, and also reported experiencing varying levels of food insecurity related to sufficiency of food quality.

Rural and Urban Differences in Household Food Insecurity and Diet Diversity of Preschool Children (PSC) in Occidental Mindoro

@#Objective. Rural and urban differences affect food availability, accessibility, and sustainability; thus, it has a great impact on household food security and dietary diversity. The relationship between the human environment and other factors threatens different domains of food systems resulting in food security. The objective of this study is to determine significant differences between the prevalence of household food security and diet diversity between urban and rural communities in Occidental Mindoro. Specifically, to determine the pattern of usual food intake of preschool children between rural and urban communities Methods. This study utilized a comparative, cross-sectional, analytic study design in order to determine the prevalence of each variable of interest in the two study areas. Radimer-Cornell Tool was utilized to assess the food security status of the household while the FAO-Dietary Diversity Score Questionnaire was used to the diversity of diet among PSC. A total of 480 (rural: n=240; urban: n=240) preschool children were recruited to participate in this study. Ratio and proportion using the point and interval estimate were used to determine the prevalence in different areas, meanwhile, chi-square of homogeneity was used to determine significant difference in the two areas under study. Results. Food insecurity in rural communities was found to be at 56.25% (95% CI: 49.97% to 62.53%) while the prevalence in urban communities was 45.83% (95% CI: 39.53% to 52.14%). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of household food insecurity between rural and urban communities (p=0.0224). Meanwhile, the prevalence of less dietary diversity among preschool children in rural communities was 37.08% (95%: 30.97% to 43.19%) and 26.25% (CI: 20.68% to 31.82%) for urban communities. There was a significant difference in prevalence of low dietary diversity score among preschool children between rural and urban communities (p=0.0107). Conclusion. There were significant differences in terms of household food insecurity and less diverse diet between two community settings. Higher prevalence in rural areas signifies that there is a need to prioritize these vulnerable communities in terms of hunger mitigation and nutrition programs. A combination of milk-rice-meat-fish was observed in the diet of preschool children for both communities however, higher prevalence of less dietary diversity was detected among rural communities.

Rural and Urban Differences in Household Food Insecurity and Diet Diversity of Preschool Children (PSC) in Occidental Mindoro

Objective@#Rural and urban differences affect food availability, accessibility, and sustainability; thus, it has a great impact on household food security and dietary diversity. The relationship between the human environment and other factors threatens different domains of food systems resulting in food security. The objective of this study is to determine significant differences between the prevalence of household food security and diet diversity between urban and rural communities in Occidental Mindoro. Specifically, to determine the pattern of usual food intake of preschool children between rural and urban communities @*Methods@#This study utilized a comparative, cross-sectional, analytic study design in order to determine the prevalence of each variable of interest in the two study areas. Radimer-Cornell Tool was utilized to assess the food security status of the household while the FAO-Dietary Diversity Score Questionnaire was used to the diversity of diet among PSC. A total of 480 (rural: n=240; urban: n=240) preschool children were recruited to participate in this study. Ratio and proportion using the point and interval estimate were used to determine the prevalence in different areas, meanwhile, chi-square of homogeneity was used to determine significant difference in the two areas under study. @* Results@#Food insecurity in rural communities was found to be at 56.25% (95% CI: 49.97% to 62.53%) while the prevalence in urban communities was 45.83% (95% CI: 39.53% to 52.14%). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of household food insecurity between rural and urban communities (p=0.0224). Meanwhile, the prevalence of less dietary diversity among preschool children in rural communities was 37.08% (95%: 30.97% to 43.19%) and 26.25% (CI: 20.68% to 31.82%) for urban communities. There was a significant difference in prevalence of low dietary diversity score among preschool children between rural and urban communities (p=0.0107). @*Conclusion@#There were significant differences in terms of household food insecurity and less diverse diet between two community settings. Higher prevalence in rural areas signifies that there is a need to prioritize these vulnerable communities in terms of hunger mitigation and nutrition programs. A combination of milk-rice-meat-fish was observed in the diet of preschool children for both communities however, higher prevalence of less dietary diversity was detected among rural communities.

Household food security and with stunting among preschool children in Occidental Mindoro

@#<p><strong>Background and Objective:</strong> Food security is achieved when the population at all times has access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food to sustain a healthy and active life. This study aimed to determine the significant association between household food security and the prevalence of stunting among preschool children in Occidental Mindoro.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This study utilized a cross- sectional study design and a three-level, multi-stage, stratified random sampling to answer the study objectives. A total of 480 preschool children (n=240 urban; n= 240 rural) were included in the study. The Radimer-Cornell Tool was used to determine the food security status of the household. A validated- constructed questionnaire was used to determine other factors which were controlled in this study. Multiple Logistic Regression was used to determine significant association between the exposure and the outcome variable while controlling the confounding variable simultaneously.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> This study revealed that the prevalence of food insecurity in the province was 51.04% (95% CI: 46.55, 55.53) while the prevalence of stunting was 36.04% (95%CI: 31.73, 40.35). Meanwhile, after controlling the confounding effect of household income and low dietary diversity score it was found that the odds of having a stunted child were 23 times higher among food insecure households (OR: 23.00, 95%CI: 12.05, 43.91).</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Based on the results of this study, the magnitude of household food insecurity and stunting were<br />found to be very high in the study areas. There was a significant association between household food security<br />and stunting among preschool children.</p>