Household food security and nutrition assessment among children: A study on some selected slum areas of Khulna City

Abstract

Food insecurity and malnutrition is a severe public crisis that has been linked to increasing risk of morbidity and mortality. To evaluate food security and nutrition status among children at some selected slum areas of Khulna city the study conducted during January to June 2019. Investigations had been made to identify different factors that are influencing food insecurity and malnutrition among children. The study aimed to determine food and nutrition status among children in selected four slum areas of Khulna city and provided some guidelines for improving food security and nutrition status among children. A cross sectional descriptive study had been conducted in four slum areas of Khulna city to assess food security and nutrition status of 0 to 60 months children. Interview schedule, questionnaire survey, anthropometric measurement and online document analysis had been used to achieve necessary data. The study was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Here purposive sampling procedure was used to determine sample size from the study areas where the total sample size was 90. The anthropometric results of the present study were interpreted using the WHO 2011 Z-score classifications. The major findings of this study were that nearly 34.5 percent of children were food secure, 24.4 percent was found mildly food insecure, 28.9 percent was moderately food insecure and 12.2 percent was found severely food insecure. Prevalence of wasting was 37.7 percent whereas that of stunting and underweight were 28.9 percent and 40.7 percent respectively. Several socio-economic factors such as income level, employment status of parents and expenditure on food are associated with food security and nutrition status of children. The study made suggestions for an integrated food security policy and nutrition based counseling in slum areas of Khulna city.

Maternal Nutritional Knowledge and Determinants of the Child Nutritional Status in the Northern Region of Bangladesh

“…Mother's educational status was positively correlated with nutritional status, whereas large family size was detected as a negative influence on the child's nutritional status. Habiba et al (2020) researched to determine the food and nutrition status among children in four selected slum areas of Khulna City. Household food security is categorized into mildly, moderately, and severely food insecure.…”