Shorter, Cheaper, Quicker, Better : Linking Measures of Household Food Security to Nutritional Outcomes in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Uganda, and Tanzania

Using nationally representative household survey data from five countries -- three from South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal) and two from Sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania and Uganda) -- this paper conducts a systematic assessment of the correlation between various measures of household food security and nutritional outcomes of children. The analysis, following the universally accepted and applied definition of food security, is based on some of the most commonly used indicators of food security. The results show that the various measures of household food security do appear to carry significant signals about the nutritional status of children that reside within the household. This result holds even after the analysis controls for a wide array of other socio-economic characteristics of the households that are generally also thought to be associated with the quality of child nutrition. If using these food security indicators as proxy measures for the underlying nutritional status of children is of some interest, then the results show that simple, cost-effective, and easy-to-collect measures, such as the food consumption score or the dietary diversity score, may carry at least as much information as other measures, such as per capita expenditure or the starchy staple ratio, which require longer and costlier surveys with detailed food consumption modules. Across five different countries in South Asia and Africa, the results suggest that the food consumption score, in particular, performs extremely well in comparison with all other measures from the perspective of nutritional targeting as well as for monitoring nutritional outcomes.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Sherpa, Maya, Tiwari, Sailesh, Skoufias, Emmanuel
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-08
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, AGRICULTURAL INCOMES, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURE, BEEF, BREAD, BREASTFEEDING, BUTTER, CALORIC INTAKE, CALORIE AVAILABILITY, CALORIE INTAKE, CASSAVA, CENTRAL REGIONS, CEREALS, CHILD MALNUTRITION, CHILD NUTRITION, CHILD NUTRITIONAL STATUS, CHRONIC HUNGER, CHRONIC MALNUTRITION, CHRONIC POVERTY, CLEAN DRINKING WATER, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, COST-EFFECTIVENESS, CROP DIVERSIFICATION, DAILY CALORIES, DAIRY, DIARRHEA, DIETARY DIVERSITY, DIETARY PATTERNS, DIRECT TRANSFERS, DRINKING WATER, ECONOMIC SHOCKS, EGGS, ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS, FATS, FOOD ACCESS, FOOD AVAILABILITY, FOOD CONSUMPTION, FOOD CONSUMPTION PATTERNS, FOOD EXPENDITURE, FOOD EXPENDITURES, FOOD INSECURE HOUSEHOLDS, FOOD INSECURITY, FOOD INTAKE, FOOD POVERTY, FOOD POVERTY LINE, FOOD PREFERENCES, FOOD PRICE, FOOD PRICES, FOOD QUALITY, FOOD REQUIREMENTS, FOOD SECURITY INDICATORS, FOOD SECURITY STATUS, FOOD SHARE, FOODS, FRUIT, FRUITS, GRAINS, HONEY, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD FOOD, HOUSEHOLD FOOD ALLOCATION, HOUSEHOLD FOOD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY, HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY, HOUSEHOLD LEVEL, HOUSEHOLD LIVING STANDARDS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HUMAN RIGHTS, HUNGER, IFPRI, INCOME SHOCK, LEGUMES, LIVING STANDARDS, MAIZE, MALNOURISHED CHILDREN, MEAL, MEAT, MEATS, MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES, MICRONUTRIENTS, MILK, NUTRIENT, NUTRIENTS, NUTRITION POLICY, NUTRITION SECURITY, NUTRITION SURVEILLANCE, NUTRITIONAL NEEDS, NUTRITIONAL OUTCOMES, NUTRITIONAL SECURITY, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, NUTRITIONAL VALUE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD, PEANUTS, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, POOR AREAS, PORK, POTATOES, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY REDUCTION, PROTEIN, PROTEIN CONTENT, PULSES, QUALITY OF DIET, REGIONAL PATTERNS, RICE, SAFETY NET, SAFETY NETS, SANITATION, SEAFOOD, SORGHUM, SPICES, SUBSISTENCE, SUGAR, SUGAR PRODUCTS, SWEET POTATOES, TEA, TUBERS, UNDERNUTRITION, VEGETABLES, VITAMIN, VITAMIN A, WFP, WHEAT, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, WORLD FOOD SUMMIT,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/08/18144818/shorter-cheaper-quicker-better-linking-measures-household-food-security-nutritional-outcomes-bangladesh-nepal-pakistan-uganda-tanzania https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16017
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