Household Food Insecurity, Coping Strategies and Child Dietary Diversity (24-59 months) in Ibadan, Nigeria

Folake O Samuel; Ifeoluwa Omolara Otitoju; Akinkunmi Paul Okekunle

doi:10.26596/wn.2020111129-144

Folake O Samuel University of Ibadan, Ibadan
Ifeoluwa Omolara Otitoju University of Ibadan
Akinkunmi Paul Okekunle

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26596/wn.2020111129-144

Keywords: Household food insecurity, Coping strategies, Nutritional Status, Under-5, Nigeria, nutritional stunting, dietary diversity, young child nutritional status, preschool children

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.