Exploring Household Food Security and Dietary Pattern: A cross-sectional study of primary school children in Bangladesh

Abstract

The goal of the current study was to determine how socioeconomic factors effect food security, and food consumption pattern of primary school children in Barishal district. Convenience sampling was applied to gather a total of 300 data that were retained as the final sample size of our study and a pre-structured questionnaire was used. It was found that 64.8% of respondents in rural areas and 74.0% in urban areas were food secure, while 21.0% in rural areas and 15.1% in urban areas were food insecure. It was also observed that 53.20% and 78.75% of respondents purchase food from the market in rural and urban areas, respectively. Food security was significantly correlated with socio-economic status, including education level, household income, housing condition. However, household size, the difference between boys and girls, and BMI showed negative association. In addition, the consumption of oil, meat, fish, and vegetables was observed more among urban people except for rice, consumed 3 times a day by 84% of the rural people. On the other hand, 22.86% and 35.63% of the participants took their meals with all family members in rural and urban location respectively. According to this study, policy makers may use the features of food security and the associated influencing factors as well as food consumption patterns as scientific references when determining how to meet local food needs, cut down on food waste, and conserve natural resources in order to achieve sustainable development.