nepAl nutrItIon And food securIty BulletIn - ReliefWeb

NEPAL Nutrition and Food Security Bulletin Household food insecurity and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months in Kailali district of Nepal Abstract: Food insecurity and malnutrition among children are common in Nepal. However, inadequate data exist on the association between household food insecurity and nutritional status of children. The objective of the study was to assess the relationship between household food insecurity and malnutrition among children aged 6-23 months in Kailali district of Nepal. We analyzed data from families of 368 children (6-23 months) who completed a cross sectional survey in January, 2009. The data contained information on socio-demographic characteristics, food insecurity, child feeding practices, use of preventive health services and height, weight and hemoglobin of children and mothers. More than two-thirds (69%) of households were classified as food insecure (insufficient access to adequate food). Stunting, underweight and wasting were 41%, 24% and 9% among children respectively. Anemia was 57%. There was no significant association between household food insecurity and stunting, underweight and anemia among children. Stunting and underweight were associated with maternal height and household wealth (p