Abstract:
Household food security is the ability of the household to secure sufficient food to
provide for all the nutrient requirements for all members of the household. Household
food security is a critical variable that affects nutritional status of preschool children. The
present study was carried out to examine the household food security status and its
relationship to malnutrition of preschool children.
A sample of 150 preschool children aged between 3 – 5 years was recruited from
Polpithigama divisional secretariat in the Kurunegala district. Anthropometric
measurements were taken and Z scores were calculated. Mothers or caretakers were
interviewed using a questionnaire to obtain information on socio-demographic
characteristics of the households. U.S Core Food Security Model was used to measure
household food security
Prevalence of different household food security status such as food secure, food
insecure without hunger, food insecure with moderate hunger and food insecure with
severe hunger among households were 24%, 51.3%, 18.7% and 6% respectively. The
prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting were 34.7%, 26% and 7.3%
respectively. Prevalence of underweighted and wasted children were higher in food
insecure households than in food secure households. Paternal employment and family
income was significantly higher among food secure households than food insecure
households.
The high prevalence of acute malnutrition among preschool children in food insecure
households indicated short term food deprivation in food insecure households. Food
insecurity worsened the nutritional status of preschool children of households.
