Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: January | Volume: 7 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 237-247
Household Food Security, Dietary Practices and Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Bahari Division, Kilifi County, Kenya
Msanzu Samuel Chea, Chege Peter, Maoga Winfred Nyamota
Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenyatta University.
Corresponding Author: Msanzu Samuel Chea
ABSTRACT
Background: Food insecurity is a public health problem of concern since its impact can havE detrimental effects on the life of an individual. Worldwide, 12% of people are unable to meet their dietary needs due to household food insecurity. Food insecurity and poor dietary practices has contributed to the high prevalence of malnutrition among preschool children. The importance of nutrition during preschool age has been realized worldwide. However, there exist minimal information on the relationship between food security, dietary practices and nutrition status of preschool children. The study, therefore, focused on household food security, dietary practices and nutritional status among preschool children in Bahari division, Kilifi County.
Method: The study adopted cross-sectional analytical study design. A randomly selected sample of 402 mothers/ caregivers was distributed to all the sub-locations within a randomly selected location using proportionate to size sampling method.
Results: Based on the findings 20.9% households were food insecure as shown by household dietary diversity score of < 4. The dietary practices were moderate as indicated by a mean number of meals (2.85±0.80): Only 49.4%; 52.4%; 58% preschool children consumed adequate sources of vitamin B3 (116.35±1.53), vitamin B2 (1.11±0.25) and calcium (484.70±31.88). About 4.1% of the preschool children were wasted; 20.7% underweight and 39.7% stunted. The results also indicated that there was an association between dietary practices and nutritional status of the preschool children (p<0.034).
Conclusion: Household food security and appropriate dietary practices play a critical role in ensuring optimal nutrition of the preschool children.
Key words: Food security, Household, Nutritional status, Preschool children.