International Journal of Health Sciences

Spatial Pattern of Household Food Insecurity and Childhood Malnutrition in Akinyele Local Government Area, Nigeria
Atoloye, Abiodun Tolulope; Ogunba, Beatrice Olubukola; Samuel, Folake Olukemi

Abstract
Food insecurity and malnutrition are persistent problems in Nigeria. Analysis of spatial pattern of these problems at community level is important to target the affected with appropriate intervention. This study determined the prevalence and spatial pattern of food insecurity and childhood malnutrition in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria. Data were obtained from 409 mothers of under-five children across 40 communities in the study area, which included information on socio-economic characteristics, food insecurity, hygiene practices, height, weight and coordinate of points of survey. Community was the unit of analysis and Geographical Information System was utilized to present visual information about the communities and descriptive statistics to present the nonspatial data. More than half (52.6%) of households were classified as food insecure. Overall prevalence of childhood stunting, underweight, and wasting were 41.6%, 19.8% and 5.6% respectively. Spatial pattern of food insecurity and malnutrition varied across the study area and suggested that the rural communities have higher degree of food insecurity. In conclusion, there is high prevalence of food insecurity, stunting, wasting and underweight among under-five children and their distribution varied across the study area. The maps generated from this study could be used for proper resource allocation and targeting of nutrition intervention and development efforts.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijhs.v3n1a15