Association of Household Food Security Status with Mother/Caregiver-Child Pair’s Nutritional Status Using HFIAS and FCS
Celina Ann J. Navarro1*, Glen Melvin P. Gironella1, and Ma. Socorro E. Ignacio2
1Department of Science and Technology - Food and Nutrition Research Institute
2College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila
*Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABSTRACT
The main objective of the study was to determine the association of household food security status with mother/caregiver-child pair’s (MCCP) nutritional status using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Food Consumption Score (FCS). MCCP’s nutritional status was categorized into two: household with chronic energy deficient (CED) mother/caregiver and/or at least one child who was stunted, and household without CED mother/caregiver and stunted child. Secondary data from the 2013 National Nutrition Survey conducted by DOST-FNRI was used for the study. Mothers/caregivers who were included in the study were non-pregnant aged 19 years and above, their children, and their household characteristics. Descriptive and analytical analysis via binomial logistic regression was done using Stata 12.1. Results showed that the HFIAS gave the highest estimated prevalence of food insecurity with 75.1% (95% CI: 73.9-76.3) while for FCS, it was 15.7% (95% CI: 14.7-16.8). The estimated proportion of households with CED mother/caregiver and/or at least one stunted child was 38.7% (95%CI: 37.5-39.9), while those households without CED mother/caregiver and stunted child was 61.3% (95% CI: 60.1-62.5). Significant associations were observed after adjusting for the confounding variables. For the HFIAS indicator, food insecure households were 1.28 (95% CI: 1.09-1.48) times more likely to have a mother/caregiver with CED and/or at least one stunted child than food secure households. Food insecure households classified by the FCS indicator had 22% (95% CI: 1.01-1.35) higher chance than food secure households to have a CED mother/caregiver and/or at least one stunted child. There was a significant association between household food insecurity and occurrence of undernutrition in a household. To improve the households’ nutritional status interventions that are both nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive should be implemented. More researches have to be done to identify the sensitivity and specificity of the household food security indicator in accurately identifying food insecure household.
INTRODUCTION
Food security is defined as a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO 2006). Food security is not easily achieved by households and individuals because of poverty, inadequate food supply, climate change, and many other interacting factors (UNICEF 2009). It is one of the problems faced by the world today, including the Philippines. In 2013, only 34.1% of Filipino households were considered food secure based on the National Nutrition Survey conducted by Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FNRI) (DOST-FNRI 2013b). . . . . . read more
REFERENCES
ALI D, SAHA KK, NGUYEN PH, DIRESSIE MT, RUEL MT, MENON P, RAWAT R. 2013. Household Food Insecurity is Associated with Higher Child Undernutrition in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Vietnam but the Effect is Not Mediated by Child Dietary Diversity. The Journal of Nutrition 143: 2015-21.
BARETT C. 2010. Measuring Food Insecurity. Science 327: 825-828.
BETEBO B, EJAJO T, ALEMSEGED F, MASSA D. 2017. Household Food Insecurity and Its Association with Nutritional Status of Children 6-59 Months of Age in East Badawacho District, South Ethiopia. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. DOI: 10.1155/2017/6373595.
COATES J, SWINDALE A, BILINSKY P. 2007. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) for Measurement of Food Access: Indicator Guide. Washington DC: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project, Academy for Educational Development.
[DOST-FNRI] Department of Science and Technology - Food and Nutrition Research Institute. 2013a. 2013 National Nutrition Survey Field Operation Manual: General Guidelines. Taguig City: DOST-FNRI.
[DOST-FNRI] Department of Science and Technology - Food and Nutrition Research Institute. 2013b Philippine Facts and Figures 2013: 8th National Nutrition Survey: Food Security Survey. Taguig City: DOST-FNRI.
[DOST-FNRI] Department of Science and Technology - Food and Nutrition Research Institute. 2013c Philippine Facts and Figures 2013: 8th National Nutrition Survey: Overview. Taguig City: DOST-FNRI.
[DOST-FNRI] Department of Science and Technology - Food and Nutrition Research Institute. 2016. Nutrition Sitiuation in CARAGA. Retrieved from http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/images/sources/Dissemination/NutritionSituationCaraga.pdf
[FAO] Food and Agriculture Organization. 2006. Policy Brief. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/forestry/13128-0e6f36f27e0091055bec28ebe830f46b3.pdf
[FAO-IFAD-WFP] Food and Agriculture Organization - International Fund for Agricultural Development - World Food Programme. 2015. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Rome: FAO.
HATLOY A, HALLUND J, DIARRA MM, OSHAUG A. 2000. Food variety, socioeconomic status and nutritional status in urban and rural areas in Koutiala (Mali) . Public Health Nutrition 3(1): 57-65.
[IFPRI] International Food Policy Research Institute. 2016. 2016 Global Hunger Index Getting to Zero Hunger. Retrieved from http://www.ifpri.org/cdmref/p15738coll2/id/130707/filename/130918.pdf
JONES AD, NGURE FM, PELTO G, YOUNG SL. 2013. What Are We Assessing When We Measure Food Security? A Compendium and Review of Current Metrics. Advances in Nutrition 4: 481-505.
LOVON M, MATHIASSEN A. 2014. Are the World Food Programme’s food consumption groups a good proxy for energy deficiency? Food Security 6: 461-470.
MAXWELL D, COATES J, VAITLA B. 2013. How Do Different Indicators of Household Food Security Compare? Empirical Evidence from Tigray. Medford, USA: Feinstein International Center, Tufts University.
NASER IA, JALIL R, MUDA WM, NIK WS, MOHD SHARIFF Z, ABDULLAH MR. 2014. Association between household food insecurity and nutritional outcomes among children in Northeastern of Peninsular Malaysia. Nutrition Research and Practice 8(3): 304-311.
RAH JH, AKHTER N, SEMBA RD, DE PEE S, BLOEM MW, CAMPBELL AA, KRAEMER K. 2010. Low dietary diversity is a predictor of child stunting in rural Bangladesh. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64:1393-98.
SAAKA M. 2016. How is household food insecurity and maternal nutritional status associated in a resource‑poor setting in Ghana? Agriculture and Foos Security. DOI 10.1186/s40066-016-0059-3.
SAAKA M, OSMAN SM. 2013. Does Household Food Insecurity Affect the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children Aged 6-36 Months? International Journal of Population Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/304169.
SINGH A, SINGH A, RAM F. 2014. Household food insecurity and nutritional status of children and women in Nepal. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 35(1): 3-11.
SREERAMAREDDY CT, RAMAKRISHNAREDDY N, SUBRAMANIAM M. 2014. Association between household food access insecurity and nutritional status indicators among children aged <5 years in Nepal: results from a national, cross-sectional household survey. Public Health Nutrition 18(16): 2906-14.
THAMILINI J, SILVA KD, JAYASINGHE JM. 2015. Prevalence of Stunting among Pre-school Children in Food Insecure Rural Households in Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research 26(2): 390-394.
[UN] United Nations. 2016. Zero Hunger: Why it Matters? Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2_Why-it-Matters_ZeroHunger_2p.pdf
[UNICEF] United Nations Children's Fund. 2009. Food Security and its Determinant Factors. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/albania/Food_Security_ANG.pdf
WEISMANN D, BASSETT L, BENSON T, HODDINOTT J. 2009. Validation of the World Food Programme’s Food Consumption Score and Alternative Indicators of Household Food Security. Washington DC: International Food Poloicy Research Institute.
WORLD BANK. 2006. Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development: A Strategy for Large‐scale Action. The World Bank: Washington, DC.
