Household Dietary Diversity among Households with and without Children with Disabilities in Three Low-Income Communities in Lusaka, Zambia

Mary O. Hearst (), Leah Wells, Lauren Hughey and Zeina Makhoul
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Mary O. Hearst: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Leah Wells: Public Health Department, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
Lauren Hughey: SPOON Foundation, Portland, OR 97214, USA
Zeina Makhoul: SPOON Foundation, Portland, OR 97214, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: The purpose of this manuscript is to describe household dietary diversity (HDDS) in Lusaka, Zambia between households with and without a child with a disability living in the same communities. Cross-sectional data were collected in three low-income compounds in September 2021. Participants included households with a child with a disability enrolled in Kusamala+, a community-based program, ( n = 444) and a convenience sample of adults living in the same area without a child with a disability ( n = 1027). The HDDS tool asked about food groups consumed in the past 24 h by people in the household. The responses were summed (yes = 1, no = 0), range 0–12. Individual dietary diversity scores (IDDSs) were calculated for children (0–8 items). Analysis included descriptive statistics and linear regression. Mean HDDS for the households with a child with a disability was 4.8 (SD 2.1) vs. 6.1 (SD = 2.2) among households without a child with a disability ( p < 0.001). The individual score for children (IDDS) for households with children with disabilities was 2.6 (SD = 1.4) vs. 3.7 (SD = 1.6) for households without a child with a disability. Households with a child with a disability had a significantly lower HDDS and IDDS in unadjusted and adjusted models ( p < 0.001). National policy must assure the most vulnerable populations, and often hidden, receive focused financial and food support.

Keywords: household dietary diversity score; children with disabilities; Zambia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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