This paper estimates the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity and dietary diversity among displaced children in the Bamenda Health District of Cameroon. As of October 2018, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated there were 105,000 IDPs in the northwest region of Cameroon, of whom an estimated 43 percent were children.
The study was conducted from May 2021 to June 2021 and included 395 children aged 6-59 months. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, food security, and dietary diversity. Household food insecurity was categorized into three levels (secure, moderate, or at risk of hunger), and dietary diversity was assessed based on the consumption of food from seven standardized food groups.
The study highlights the need for interventions to improve food security and dietary diversity among internally displaced persons’ children in the study area.
Results:
- The majority of IDP households were food insecure. The prevalence of household food insecurity was estimated at 92 percent, with 3 percent at risk of experiencing hunger and only 6 percent being food secure.
- More than half of the children in the study had low or inadequate dietary diversity. Children in the study had a mean dietary diversity score of 3.6 food groups, with 52 percent having low or inadequate dietary diversity.
- Factors associated with food insecurity included low monthly income, high frequency of forced displacement, and long distances walked to fetch drinking water. Children from households with a monthly income of US$101- US$200 and those that had been displaced just once were less likely to be food insecure. Households with participants who walked ten minutes or more to fetch drinking water were more likely to be food insecure.
- Factors associated with low dietary diversity included low monthly income, being a beneficiary of social assistance, and long distances walked to fetch drinking water. Households with monthly income of US$100 or more had a reduced chance of providing low diversified food. Households that received social grants and had to walk ten minutes or more to fetch drinking water had a higher chance of providing low diversified food.
The authors conclude that dietary diversity was unacceptably low and household food insecurity was unacceptably high among internally displaced children. Food security was mainly influenced by low monthly income, high frequency of forced displacement and distance walked to fetch drinking water. Low household monthly income, receiving social grants and distance walked to fetch drinking water were associated with low dietary diversity among children 6–59 months. The study highlights the need for interventions to improve food security and dietary diversity among displaced children in the study area.