Dietary diversity and nutritional status of 2 to 5 years old children in households with and without home gardens in selected districts in Siem Reap province, Cambodia

Abstract

Introduction: There is a high prevalence of malnutrition in Cambodia during the past 10 years. One of the programmes implemented to secure household food security in order to alleviate malnutrition was home gardening. This study aimed to compare the nutritional status of 2 to 5 years old children in households with and without home gardens. Methods: Twenty-five households with home gardens and 60 households without home gardens were sampled. Results: The households sampled had a mixed type of home garden with three to five crop varieties occupying 20 to 200 square meters area. The purpose of the garden was to increase vegetable consumption and produce additional income. Results showed that 72% and 65% of the children resided in households with and without home gardens, respectively. Majority had medium dietary diversity score, i.e. consumed four to five different food groups per day. Except for stunting, higher prevalences of undernutrition (32%) and wasting (8%) were observed among children residing in households with home gardens compared to children in households without home gardens. Conclusion: There were no associations for dietary diversity score and nutritional status of children from households with and without home gardens. Among the sociodemographic and economic factors, age, sex, family size, and vegetable consumption were significantly associated with dietary diversity score and nutritional status of the children.