Abstract:
Background: Ethiopia has one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world. Despite
some improvements, approximately half of the children under five are still malnourished. Food
insecurity is probably one of the determinant factors of malnutrition in developing countries;
however its role remains unclear.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of house hold food insecurity and its association with the
nutritional status of children 6-59 months of age in East Badawacho Woreda, SNNPR.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from February20- 30, 2014
on a sample of 508 mother/child pairs of 6-59 month old children. Structured questionnaire was
administered to caregivers of the study children. Anthropometric measurement on weight and
height was taken from children aged 6-59 months and from their caregivers. Descriptive analysis
was used to see the overall distribution of the study subject with the variables under study. Both
bivariate and multivariate analysis (binary logistic regression) was used to identify factors
associated with nutritional status of children. P value of <0.05 was considered as statistically
significant.
Result: the prevalence of household food insecurity was 75.8%. The prevalence rates of stunting,
underweight, and wasting among children were 45.6%, 26.3%, and 14.6%, respectively. Household
food insecurity was significantly associated with underweight (AOR=3.82; CI=1.78-8.19) and
stunting (AOR=6.7; CI=3.71-12.1) but not with wasting. In addition diarrhea (AOR=2.5; CI=1.52-
4.13), health status during pregnancy (AOR=2.23; CI=1.27-3.94) and ANC visit (AOR=2.8; CI=
1.66-4.7) come out to be significant risk factors for underweight. Initiation of complementary
feeding (AOR=2.41;CI=1.36-4.27) and child age(AOR=2.17;CI=1.11-4.28) were found to be
associated with stunting. Also child sex (AOR=1.89; CI=1.01-3.54), diarrhea (AOR=2.28;CI=1.19-
4.38), pre-lacteal feeding(AOR=5.28; CI=2.45-11.36),birth interval(AOR=3.44; CI=1.38-8.58) and
ANC visit were found to be risk factors for wasting.
Conclusion and recommendation: Household food insecurity and the prevalence rates of
stunting, underweight and wasting, among children 6 to 59 months was high and still
malnutrition is major public health problem among children in the area. Interventions programs
should focus on improving the household food security, on avoiding traditional feeding
practices, on the prevention of diarrheal disease and tackle the problem of malnutrition.
