Adolescent Diets in the context of Household Food Security Status

Food insecurity is highly prevalent in many developing countries, with negative implications for the health and well-being of affected populations. At the community level, household food security status is affected by inequitable distribution and access to foods. Within households, variation in food allocation influences individual nutritional adequacy. Researchers have argued that age, gender, or household status in developing country societies may influence parents' preferential allocation of food and health care. Examination of intra-household food distribution is pivotal to understanding differential nutritional outcomes among household members. The relationship between adolescent dietary intakes in the context of household food security status in less-developed countries is not well understood. Presently the bulk of intra-household food allocation research focuses on unequal distribution between males and females and between adults and young children. We examined data from a sample of 670 adolescents living in central Tanzania to determine how individual diets compared to their respective households. Results indicate that 37% percent of households were severely food secure and 44% were moderately food insecure. Adolescents were increasingly more vulnerable to food insecurity with higher levels of household food security. Multivariate analyses revealed that the village in which adolescents live, number of household members and being male were associated with differences in adolescent dietary intakes relative to their households. We conclude that adolescents continue to be vulnerable to food insecurity and dietary inadequacies, even when their households experience food security.