Household food consumption and nutritional status of children aged 6 to 59 Months in Zinder, Niger Republic

Abstract

Malnutrition exists in both urban and rural areas in Niger. An analysis of food and nutrition situation was carried out in the urban  municipality of Zinder in order to contribute to a better understanding of the situation. This work was done from February to March 2018, at the household level, sampled by probabilistic method. The study involved 168 children from 6 to 59 months selected from 150 households in 15neighborhoods in the urban municipalities of Zinder. An analysis of the Food Consumption Score and Household Food Diversity Score showed acceptable food consumption and high food diversity respectively in58.7% and 67.3% of households. Furthermore, the results showed that the socio-economic characteristics that determined Score of food consumption were the main activities of heads of households and their wives. Food diversity was generally acceptable, although 2.7 % of households still had low dietary diversity in the study area. Also, food diversity remained low overall for nearly 8.9% of children with a rate of 6.0% for  households headed by a woman. Nevertheless, the latter female-headed households had an estimated 13.7% of children with average individual food diversity. The prevalence of acute global malnutrition is 13.1% with the severe form at3%. It should be noted that girls were much more affected by this severe form (3.4%) compared to 2.5% for boys. However, stunting was more prevalent in males than in females with 57.5% and 46.6%,respectively. Moderate form accounting for 28.4% in females compared to 17.5% in males. This  nutritional status reflects the relatively acceptable food situation in which these children lived. Furthermore, the appreciation of different foods and modes of consumption have shown on the one hand that the diet remains monotonous. On the other hand, this analysis revealed that cereal-based dishes accompanied by vegetable/leafy sauces predominated in these households in the study area. This situation exposes the members of these households and especially young children to the risk of malnutrition.

Key words: Characterization, food consumption, food diversity, nutritional status, children, household, socioeconomics, Zinder