Cross-Sectional Association of Food Source with Food Insecurity, Dietary Diversity and Body Mass Index in Western Kenya

Abstract

The triple burden of malnutrition in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is partly a result of changing food environments and a shift from traditional diets to high-calorie Western-style diets. Exploring the relationship between food sources and food- and nutrition-related outcomes is important to understanding how changes in food environments may affect nutrition in LMICs. This study examined associations of household food source with household food insecurity, individual dietary diversity and individual body mass index in Western Kenya. Interview-administered questionnaire and anthropometric data from 493 adults living in 376 randomly-selected households were collected in 2019. Adjusted regression analyses were used to assess the association of food source with measures of food insecurity, dietary diversity and body mass index. Notably, participants that reported rearing domesticated animals for consumption (‘own livestock’) had lower odds of moderate or severe household food insecurity (odds ratio (OR) = 0.29 (95% CI: 0.09, 0.96)) and those that reported buying food from supermarkets had lower odds of moderate or severe household food insecurity (borderline significant, OR = 0.37 (95% CI: 0.14, 1.00)), increased dietary diversity scores (Poisson coefficient = 0.17 (95% CI: 0.10, 0.24)) and higher odds of achieving minimum dietary diversity (OR = 2.84 (95% CI: 1.79, 4.49)). Our findings provide insight into the relationship between food environments, dietary patterns and nutrition in Kenya, and suggest that interventions that influence household food source may impact the malnutrition burden in this context.

Understanding the need for pediatric neurodevelopmental services among households in western Kenya: A population-based study

“…12 Considering the very high number of households in our sample identified as being food insecure, further consideration should be given to the utility of these measures when used within LMICs, like Kenya. However, the rate of households identified in this study as being food insecure (89%) is comparable to other food insecurity measures in Kenya, which range from 72.3% 25 to 84% 26 being moderately or severely food insecure.…”

Food Insecurity and Dietary Deprivation: Migrant Households in Nairobi, Kenya

“…In Kenya, the study of dietary diversity is dominated by research on the relationship between smallholder agricultural production and dietary diversity in rural areas (for example, [29][30][31][32]). Less attention has been given to dietary diversity in urbanising Kenya, although that is beginning to change [33].…”

“…Kimani-Murage and colleagues in two separate papers [34,35] showed that slum households are not only highly vulnerable to food insecurity but also experience a double burden of malnutrition with high levels of chronic child malnutrition co-existing with high levels of maternal obesity. A recent household survey in the secondary city of Kisumu showed a clear link between poverty and dietary deprivation [32]. Another study of three small towns in central Kenya found significant negative shifts in dietary composition accompanying supermarket shopping with increased consumption of highly processed foods [33,[36][37][38].…”

Socioeconomic inequalities in food purchasing practices and expenditure patterns: Results from a cross-sectional household survey in western Kenya

“…The land terrain, socioeconomic and food retail characteristics of both control and intervention areas were delineated as similar as possible ( 19 ). This secondary analysis has used baseline cross-sectional data from both the intervention and control areas as applied in a related analysis ( 20 ).…”

“…Achievement of minimum dietary diversity was coded as a binary no/yes variable with minimum dietary diversity implying a dietary diversity score of 5 and above. This approach has been used in recent similar studies and a previous analysis using this dataset ( 20 , 28 ).…”