Are household food security, nutrient adequacy, and childhood nutrition clustered together? A cross-sectional study in Bankura, West Bengal
Indian J Public Health
;
2019 Sep; 63(3): 203-208
Article
| IMSEAR
| ID: sea-198145
ABSTRACT
Background:
Research on different measures of food security and their interrelation in order to identify vulnerable households are scarce in India.Objectives:
The objective was to assess household food security (HHFS), nutrient adequacy, dietary diversity, and nutritional status of under-five children along with their interrelation in the slums of Bankura Municipality, West Bengal.Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016–2017 among 240 households using two-stage 30-cluster random sampling. Information regarding socioeconomic characteristics, availability, and utilization of different poverty alleviation schemes was collected. HHFS was assessed by a validated HHFS scale-short form in Bengali and nutrient adequacy with 24-h recall method. The eldest under-five child in the family was measured for anthropometry using standard procedure and for dietary diversity with the Individual Dietary Diversity Score.Results:
Overall, 74 (29.1%) households had “food security,” whereas 102 (44.3%) and 64 (26.6%) had, respectively, low and very low food security. Among 190 under-five children, 63 (35.3%) had single and 50 (25.5%) had multiple anthropometric failures. Overall, 89 (36.1%) households were deficient for both energy and protein and 111 (47.6%) had deficiency of either of these two. Indicators on the utilization of different poverty alleviation schemes were associated with low/very low food security. A “Composite Index of Food Scarcity” comprising of HHFS, nutrient adequacy, and dietary diversity was proposed which was found to have dose–response relationship with grades of anthropometric failure of under-five children.Conclusions:
An index comprising of three indicators might help identify the vulnerable households in relation to food security more effectively than a single indicator.
Full text:
Available
Index:
IMSEAR (South-East Asia)
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Journal:
Indian J Public Health
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
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