Assessment of household food insecurity and its association with nutritional status among 6-59 months children in gambella town, western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Food insecurity and malnutrition among children are common indeveloping countries including Ethiopia. Food insecurity is probably one of the determinant factors of malnutrition in children but results are inconclusive. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of household food insecurity and its association with the nutritional status of children in Gambella town. Method:A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on children in April 2016,in Gambella town, west Ethiopia. The datawas collected from 284 households having children 6- 59month by the face to face interview usingstructured. Anthropometric measurements were measured using standard procedures to determine nutritional status of children. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determinethe association between food insecurity and nutritional status of children. Result: The overall prevalence of household food insecurity was59.5% with 20.1%,23.6%, and 15.8% households were mildly,moderately, and severely food insecurity, respectively. Prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting were 23.2%, 12.0% and 13.4% respectively.Household food insecurity was independentlyassociated with stunting but not with wasting and underweight.The odds of stunting is highly pronounced in those children who were from severely and moderately food insecure households (AOR =9.7, 95% CI: 3.75-25.08 vs. AOR =2.8, 95% CI: 1.14-7.21, respectively). Conclusion and recommendation: The findings from this study suggest high prevalence of both household food insecurity and malnutrition among children in Gambella town.Household food insecurity wasassociated onlywith stunting. So that improving household food insecurity in Gambella town of Gamella region may be necessary but not sufficient to improve the nutritional status of young children in the town.An integrated strategy that improves the overall socioeconomic wellbeing of families, maternal education,hygiene and sanitation practices will likely be more effective in improving child nutritional status in the town.