Situational analysis of the relation between food security, diet quality and dietary health in rural El Salvador

Introduction: Multiple determinants of food security exist and vary by geographical, social and cultural contexts. Socioeconomic inequality, environmental degradation, and remnants of a relatively recent civil war, among others, contribute to the lack of food security among individuals and families living in El Salvador today. Within the rural region of Morazán, El Salvador, rates of chronic child malnutrition reach 42.8%, while the prevalence of cardiometabolic health conditions and obesity among children and adults steadily increases. Food insecurity serves as a link between the complex, paradoxical relation of poverty, obesity and child malnutrition. The purpose of this study is to investigate the most salient determinants of food security and their relation with diet quality and dietary health.  Methods: This study employs an exploratory situational analysis based on primary data gathered from interviews with food and nutrition security (FNS)-related professionals, health professionals and primary caregivers (e.g. mothers, grandmothers, aunts), paired with relevant artifacts, such as local health reports, FNS-related websites, and pamphlets. Results: Combining transcribed data from interviews and collected artifacts, situational maps will be created and analyzed to investigate both human and nonhuman elements involved in the relation between food security and diet quality. Results are forthcoming. Discussion: Results from this situational analysis may better inform local policy and provide insight into the complex relation between FNS, diet quality and dietary health among vulnerable populations.