Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: May | Volume: 8 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 244-250
Determination of Household Food Security and Its Impact on Nutritional Status of Mother and Children Under Five Years in Simalungun District North Sumatra-Indonesia
Efarina University, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Simalungun, Indonesia 21162
Background: Simalungun district is the second largest granary in North Sumatera province after Deli Serdang district, however the percentage of undernutrition in Simalungun district is higher.
Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the determination of household food security and its impact on the nutrition status of mother and children under five years in Simalungun district.
Methods: Research design was cross-sectional study. The chosen research areas were determined by purposive sampling based on the status of the village as an undeveloped village. The samples were taken by stratified random sampling with the number of each category proportionately, and therefore it obtained the samples 125 households. The data were collected by structured interview using the questionnaires to one of the household members (i.e mother). The nutritional status of the mother was measured by body mass index (BMI) and the nutritional status of children measured based on a child’s weight-for-age (W/A), and then compared to the WHO standard 2007. The collected data were processed and analyzed by descriptive and statistic method.
Results: The results of the analysis indicated that the age of household head, household size and educational level have no a significant correlation to the household food security. Whereas the expenditure (p-value= 0,006) has a significant correlation to the household food security. There was relationship between the household food security with nutrition status of mother (p-value= 0.008) and children under five years (p-value= 0.031).
Conclusions: Based on the analysis, it indicated that the inadequate or insecure access to adequate food due to financial constraints. The household food security has a significant correlation to the nutritional status of mother and children under five years of age.
Key words: Household Food Security, Nutritional Status.