ABSTRACT
We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the association between household food insecurity (HFI) and prevalence of underweight, stunting, diarrhea and respiratory illness (RI) in school-age children in New Delhi, India. Mothers of 191 children aged 8–12 years were interviewed to collect HFI data using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Moderate-severe HFI was identified in 43.6% of the households. The odds for diarrhea, RI and stunting were increased by 4.7, 3.3 and 2.3 times respectively in food insecure children than food secure counterparts. HFI was not associated with underweight. There is an urgent need for effective strategies to mitigate HFI.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mr. Naveen Shukla and all the research assistants from SEEDS who helped in recruiting the participants and in conducting the field interviews.
Disclosure Statement
The authors report no financial or non-financial conflict of interest.
Author Contribution
Conceptualization: RC, MMW, KMK; Methodology: RC, KMK; Formal analysis: RC, Writing –original draft: RC, MMW; Writing – review and editing: RC, MMW, KMK; Funding Acquisition: KMK, RC; Supervision and Project Administration: RC, KMK.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.