Dietary Diversity as a Component of Food Security among Households with Preschool Children in a Coastal Municipality in Batangas, Philippines

Food insecurity remains to be one of the most significant underlying causes of malnutrition determining diet quality. High quality diets should include a variety of food to ensure nutrient adequacy for sustenance of daily activities, growth, and development of young children. Coastal communities are one of the vulnerable areas affected by food insecurity because of seasonality of income, natural calamities and other factors influencing their socio-economic status. This study aimed to determine the relationship between household food security and dietary diversity. A two-multi-stage simple, cluster-sampling technique was used to select the two-hundred seventy-one (271) households with preschool children; whereas, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Household Dietary Diversity Score Questionnaire (HDDSQ) were used as major tools in evaluating household food security status and household dietary diversity. Ratio, proportion, reporting of weighted mean, and regression analyses were used for data analysis. Majority of household heads were fishermen (23%), while caregivers were unemployed (60%). Majority of the parents were high school graduates (40%) and almost half (56%) had monthly income of less than Php 6,500.00. Only (23.3%) of households were food secure while others were found to be food insecure, classified as moderate (32.8%), mild (23.6%); and severe (20.3%). Generally, households consumed a diet with mean HDDS of 10.6± .1 (95%CI: 10.5; 10.8). Almost all (94.5%) of households had an acceptable food composition score while 4.43% and 1.11% of households had a borderline and poor score, respectively. The mean food composition score of
food secure households was 80 (95%CI: 75.4, 84.2). Two (2) out of 10 of households were food secure while the rest experienced food insecurity for the last months. Majority of the households had an acceptable food composition score with cereals-oils-fats-fish as the usual dietary combination and lowest intake from fruits, vegetables, milk, and legumes were also recorded. It follows that, in general, when food insecurity becomes more severe, the variety of food consumed also becomes limited.Findings of this study can substantiate community-based nutrition interventions, with programs tailor fitted to the needs of particular groups, such as women and children in coastal communities. Fishing has also been threatened by the ill-effects of climate change affecting food availability and accessibility in coastal areas, warranting further research.

Keywords: household food security, household dietary diversity, preschool children, coastal
communities.