Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, JG Institute of Medical Sciences, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Indian J Public Health. 2019 Jul-Sep;63(3):203-208. doi: 10.4103/ijph.IJPH_357_18.
Research on different measures of food security and their interrelation in order to identify vulnerable households are scarce in India.
The objective was to assess household food security (HHFS), nutrient adequacy, dietary diversity, and nutritional status of under-five children along with their interrelation in the slums of Bankura Municipality, West Bengal.
A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016-2017 among 240 households using two-stage 30-cluster random sampling. Information regarding socioeconomic characteristics, availability, and utilization of different poverty alleviation schemes was collected. HHFS was assessed by a validated HHFS scale-short form in Bengali and nutrient adequacy with 24-h recall method. The eldest under-five child in the family was measured for anthropometry using standard procedure and for dietary diversity with the Individual Dietary Diversity Score.
Overall, 74 (29.1%) households had "food security," whereas 102 (44.3%) and 64 (26.6%) had, respectively, low and very low food security. Among 190 under-five children, 63 (35.3%) had single and 50 (25.5%) had multiple anthropometric failures. Overall, 89 (36.1%) households were deficient for both energy and protein and 111 (47.6%) had deficiency of either of these two. Indicators on the utilization of different poverty alleviation schemes were associated with low/very low food security. A "Composite Index of Food Scarcity" comprising of HHFS, nutrient adequacy, and dietary diversity was proposed which was found to have dose-response relationship with grades of anthropometric failure of under-five children.
An index comprising of three indicators might help identify the vulnerable households in relation to food security more effectively than a single indicator.
在印度，针对不同的粮食安全措施及其相互关系进行研究，以确定弱势家庭的工作还很匮乏。
本研究旨在评估班库拉市（西孟加拉邦）贫民窟中 240 户家庭的家庭粮食安全（HHFS）、营养素充足程度、饮食多样性和 5 岁以下儿童的营养状况，并分析它们之间的相互关系。
本横断面研究于 2016-2017 年采用两阶段 30 个集群随机抽样方法，对 240 户家庭进行调查。收集家庭社会经济特征、不同扶贫计划的可得性和利用率等信息。采用孟加拉语验证的 HHFS 量表短表评估 HHFS，24 小时回顾法评估营养素充足程度。采用标准程序测量家庭中最大的 5 岁以下儿童的人体测量学指标，并采用个体饮食多样性评分评估饮食多样性。
总体而言，74 户（29.1%）家庭的 HHFS 为“安全”，102 户（44.3%）和 64 户（26.6%）家庭的 HHFS 分别为“低”和“极低”。在 190 名 5 岁以下儿童中，63 名（35.3%）儿童出现单一人体测量失败，50 名（25.5%）儿童出现多种人体测量失败。总体而言，89 户（36.1%）家庭能量和蛋白质均摄入不足，111 户（47.6%）家庭仅存在其中一种营养素摄入不足的情况。不同扶贫计划利用率的指标与低/极低的粮食安全相关。提出了一个由 HHFS、营养素充足程度和饮食多样性组成的“粮食匮乏综合指数”，该指数与 5 岁以下儿童的人体测量失败等级呈剂量-反应关系。
与单一指标相比，由三个指标组成的指数可能更有助于有效识别与粮食安全相关的弱势家庭。
