[Nutritional situation and food insecurity in the rurality of the eastern colombian region].

Abstract

Objective: In Colombia, the highest prevalence of food and nutritional insecurity occurs in rural areas, presenting gaps depending on the region. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to analyze the nutritional situation and food insecurity of rural households with children under five years of age on eastern colombian region.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study derived from the National Nutritional Situation Survey (ENSIN) 2015 was carried out. The sample included 487 rural households with children under five years of age. Nutritional status, socioeconomic factors and food insecurity were characterized. Univariate and bivariate analyses was also performed to determine the association between variables.

Results: Acute malnutrition in the region was 1.4%, while stunting was 11.5%. In the households, 38.6% had a schooling level between complete Primary and incomplete Secondary; the 45.8% were made up of two to four people; 32.2% and 79.7% did not have aqueduct to obtain drinking water and sewage systems respectively. Food insecurity was 61.8% and 74.4% of these insecure households have undertaken some coping strategy.

Conclusions: A high prevalence of acute malnutrition and stunting is found in rural eastern Colombia, and food insecurity in the region is associated with socioeconomic factors such as educational level of the head of household and household size.