Maurice Mutisya|Ngianga?Bakwin Kandala|Moses Ngware|Caroline W. Kabiru
Household food (in)security and nutritional status of urban poor children aged 6 to 23 months in Kenya
African Population and Health Research Center|Luxembourg Institute of Health|University of the Witwatersrand|University of the Witwatersrand
millions people low low middle income countries suffer extreme hunger malnutrition research effect food insecurity child nutrition concentrated high income settings produced mixed results moreover existing evidence food security nutrition children low middle income countries either crosssectional andor based primarily rural populations paper examine effect household food security status interaction household wealth status stunting among children aged 6 23 months resourcepoor urban setting kenya use longitudinal data collected 2006 2012 two informal settlements nairobi kenya mothers newborns recruited study birth followed prospectively analytical sample comprised 6858 children 6552 households household food security measured latent variable derived set questions capturing main domains access availability affordability composite measure wealth calculated using asset ownership amenities nutritional status measured using heightforage hfa zscores children whose hfa zscores 2 standard deviation categorized stunted used cox regression analyse data prevalence stunting 49 risk stunting increased 12 among children food insecure households joint effect food security wealth status assessed risk stunting increased significantly 19 22 among children moderately food insecure severely food insecure households ranked middle poor wealth status among poorest least poor households food security statistically associated stunting results shed light joint effect food security wealth status stunting study findings underscore need social protection policies reduce high rates child malnutrition urban informal settlements