Background: Stunting, the most common type of malnutrition, has been a big burden for developing countries such as the Republic of Malawi. The state of malnutrition and the eating behavior of children were surveyed at the border between Malawi and Zambia using anthropometrical measurements and Household Diet Diversity Scores.
Methods: Two rural sites were chosen to compare the impact of empowering communities with nutritional knowledge. Children between 6 months and 5 years old were randomly recruited to evaluate nutritional status. Their caregivers were interviewed to collect Household Dietary Diversity Scores.
Results: Nutritional knowledge at the site where intervention had occurred was higher than at the site where intervention had not yet occurred. However, stunting prevalence at the site where intervention occurred was not statistically lower than site that had not experienced intervention. The Household Dietary Diversity Scores study revealed that some kinds of food groups were almost absent such as organ meat (kidney, liver, and heart), and dairy products but that cereals, spices, and other vegetables were almost 100% taken at both sites, and distance from market was not associated with diet diversity.
Conclusions: The fact that food diversity was not associated with distance from market would explain the limited food accessibility and poor utilization. Although animal resource foods are available at market, they were not been consumed. The profound challenge lays in their accessibility and utilization. A successful project would aim to introduce vitamin A-rich vegetables and would explore the sustainable production of animal resource foods in the community.
Keywords: developing country; diet diversity; eating behavior; stunting.
© 2020 Japan Pediatric Society.