Ooi, Kai Shen and Jalal, Muhammad Irfan Abdul and Wong, Jing Yuan and Choo, Minn Yin and Kamruldzaman, Nurul Afifah and Lye, Chuan Way and Lum, Lucy Chai See (2023) The Prevalence and Determinants of Child Hunger and Its Associations with Early Childhood Nutritional Status among Urban Poverty Households during COVID-19 Pandemic in Petaling District, Malaysia: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Survey. Nutrients, 15 (10). ISSN 2072-6643, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15102356.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Child hunger was prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the extent, determinants, and impact on pre-school children aged 6 months to 7 years old from Malaysian urban poor households are still unknown. This exploratory cross-sectional study was performed between July 2020 and January 2021 at the Lembah Subang People Housing Project, Petaling. The households' food security status was assessed using the previously validated Radimer/Cornell questionnaire, and the children's anthropometric measurements were taken. Food diversity score was assessed using the World Health Organization Infant and Young Children Feeding (under-2 children) or Food and Agriculture Organization Women's Dietary Diversity (2-year-old-and-above children) systems. Overall, 106 households were recruited. The prevalence of child hunger is 58.4% (95% CI: 50.0, 67.4). Significant differences were found in breastfeeding and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption between under-2 and =2-year-old children. There were no significant differences between child hunger and other food-insecure groups in weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height z-scores. Only a higher dietary diversity score was significantly protective against child hunger after adjusting for maternal age, paternal employment status, and the number of household children (ORadjusted: 0.637 (95% CI: 0.443, 0.916), p = 0.015)). Proactive strategies are warranted to reduce child hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic by improving childhood dietary diversity.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Clinical Investigation Center (CIC), University of Malaya Medical Center |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | food security; urban poor; COVID-19; dietary diversity; growth; child hunger |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) |
| Divisions: | Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jul 2025 04:47 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Jul 2025 04:47 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/50788 |
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