Household Food Insufficiency and Child Nutritional Status in Urban Slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Malnourished children are about 20% in the developing world. Food insecurity is a key risk factor for child malnutrition. Food insuffi ciency, an extreme form of household food insecurity, can aff ect physiological mechanisms that are linked to an individual’s nutritional status. Food-insuffi cient children are also more likely to have poorer health status and to experience a range of negative academic and psychosocial outcomes. Methods: We administered a cross-sectional socioeconomic survey to 354 households in research site, including a validated food insuffi ciency measurement questionnaire, and obtained anthropometric measurements from children aged 12 to 24 months. We used chi-square tests to assess the relationship between household food insuffi ciency and nutritional status of children. Results: Average age of study children was 18 months and standard deviation was (± 3.2 months). Th e status of household food insuffi ciency was 56%. Th e prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 24%, 36% and 8% respectively. Th e household food insuffi ciency was signifi cantly (p<0.05) associated with underweight and stunting but not with wasting (p>0.05). Discussion: Th e study results indicate that food insuffi ciency is associated with stunting and underweight but not with wasting in urban slum of Bangladesh. We also found that child malnutrition is associated with mother’s education, father’s education, monthly family income and people per room.