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

ABSTRACT

@#<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>