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. 2019 Nov 28;16(23):4778.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16234778.

Household Food Insecurity, Dietary Diversity, Stunting, and Anaemia among Left-Behind Children in Poor Rural Areas of China

Qiping Yang  1 , Tong Yuan  1 , Lina Yang  1 , Jiaojiao Zou  1 , Meimei Ji  1 , Yefu Zhang  1 , Jing Deng  2 , Qian Lin  1
Affiliations

Household Food Insecurity, Dietary Diversity, Stunting, and Anaemia among Left-Behind Children in Poor Rural Areas of China

Qiping Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Left-behind children (LBC) are a newly emerged social group in China. Poor nutritional status is particularly prominent in this population. However, their food insecurity tends to attract very little attention. This study aims to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition (stunting and anaemia) in 3 to 5-year-old LBC in rural China. Face-to-face interviews were administered to 553 LBC caregivers in 40 rural villages of Hunan Province, China. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess household food insecurity (HFI). Dietary diversity score (DDS) and food group consumption frequency were measured by 24 h-recall and food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Hemoglobin tests and anthropometric measurements including height and weight were measured by trained health professionals. Logistic regression was constructed to assess the association between household food insecurity and dietary diversity, stunting, and anaemia. A high prevalence of household food insecurity was determined (67.6%). The weighted prevalence of stunting and anaemia were 16.6% and 26.5%, respectively. Food insecurity was positively associate with LBC stunting (severe HFI: OR = 6.50, 95% CI: 2.81, 15.00; moderate HFI: OR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.60, 7.54), and anaemia (severe HFI: OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.57). LBC with food insecurity had significantly lower dietary diversity than those who were food-secure (p < 0.001). The prevalence of household food insecurity among LBC in poor rural China is high and is associated with low DDS, stunting, and anaemia. Nutritional intervention programs and policies are urgently needed to reduce household food insecurity and undernutrition for this vulnerable population.

Keywords: China; DDS; anaemia; food insecurity; left-behind children; stunting.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dietary diversity score (DDS) and weekly food consumption frequencies by household food security status.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of prevalence and 95% confidence intervals for stunting and anaemia among left-behind children by household food insecurity status.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Stunting and anaemia by different DDS levels, differences were analyzed using chi-squared tests.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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