title: Food Insecurity and Not Dietary Diversity Is a Predictor of Nutrition Status in Children within Semiarid Agro-Ecological Zones in Eastern Kenya.
abstract: Machakos and Makueni counties in Kenya are associated with historical land degradation, climate change, and food insecurity. Both counties lie in lower midland (LM) lower humidity to semiarid (LM4), and semiarid (LM5) agroecological zones (AEZ). We assessed food security, dietary diversity, and nutritional status of children and women. Materials and Methods. A total of 277 woman-child pairs aged 15-46 years and 6-36 months respectively, were recruited from farmer households. Food security and dietary diversity were assessed using standard tools. Weight and height, or length in children, were used for computation of nutritional status. Findings. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed in food security and dietary diversity score (DDS) between LM4 and LM5. Stunting, wasting, and underweight levels among children in LM4 and LM5 were comparable as were BMI scores among women. However, significant associations (P = 0.023) were found between severe food insecurity and nutritional status of children but not of their caregivers. Stunting was significantly higher in older children (>2 years) and among children whose caregivers were older. Conclusion. Differences in AEZ may not affect dietary diversity and nutritional status of farmer households. Consequently use of DDS may lead to underestimation of food insecurity in semiarid settings.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 20752, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Zipporah N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Bukania
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 20752, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mwangi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biotechnology Research and Development, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 54840, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Karanja
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 20752, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mutisya
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 20752, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Yeri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kombe
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 20752, Nairobi 00200, Kenya.
authors.forename: Lydia U
authors.initials: LU
authors.lastname: Kaduka
authors.affiliation: School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Sainte Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada H9X 3V9.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5942-5685
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Johns