Relationship between food security and nutritional status: In indigenous children in north of Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Food security (FS) is defined as physical, social and economic access to sufficient food in nutritional quality, quantity and safety; If this is the first time this occurs, malnutrition especially in the most vulnerable social groups such as indigenous people and children of these communities. The objective of the study is to describe the relationship between the level of food security and the nutritional status of children from an Embera Chamí indigenous community in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Methodology: Homes with children between 1 and 5 years were selected; to which a sociodemographic survey was applied, the Latin American and Caribbean Scale of Food Security (ELCSA) and anthropometric measures were taken (weight, height and cephalic perimeter). Data were analyzed in STATA. The results All households were enrolled in Food insecurity (FI), 78.7% were found in severe FI, 12.7% in moderate FI and 8.5% in low FI. With regard to nutritional status, weight-for-height it was found that 6.3% of homes have at least one child with severe acute malnutrition. For the relationship between FI and nutritional status, 60 children were taken into account, evidencing that: 2 of the 3 children who were in severe acute malnutrition presented severe FI (3.33%) and the other child FI low (1.66%); Of the 41 children who had severe chronic malnutrition, 32 had severe FI (53.3%), 5 moderate FI (8.33%) and 4 low FI (6.66%).