(P17-061-23) Assessing Differences in Maternal and Child Diet Quality by Experiences of Household Food Insecurity and the Dual Burden: Evidence From the Galápagos

Objectives: Increasing evidence documents the presence of the dual burden of malnutrition within mother-child pairs in Latin America. Yet, few studies have examined intra-household differences in diet quality that may contribute to the dual burden in this context. We test whether diet quality differs for mothers and children and examine household, sociodemographic and health factors associated with intra-household dietary differences.

Methods: Data come from 75 mothers and their 150 children, aged 2-15 years, participating in the Healthy Families Study conducted in Galápagos, Ecuador. Surveys, anthropometry and 24-hour recalls were collected within the household. Overall diet diversity and intake of “healthy foods” and “foods to limit” were defined based on the Global Dietary Recommendations. Paired t-tests were used to test for correspondence in mother-child diets and multilevel regression models to identify factors associated with intra-household differences.

Results: Overall, children had higher dietary diversity and consumed more foods to limit than mothers. Maternal education, household socioeconomic status, and household composition were associated with diet quality for both mothers and children. Within households, mother and child diet quality were significantly associated. Children consumed more foods to limit than mothers, but no significant differences were seen in healthy food intake or overall diet diversity. Patterns differed by food insecurity; children in food insecure households had higher diet diversity, intake of healthy foods and intake of foods to limit than their mothers. Diet quality did not differ significantly between households with and without the dual burden. However, maternal obesity and iron deficiency anemia were associated with child diet quality.

Conclusions: Mother and child diets were similar within households in this dual burden context. Mothers in food insecure households may prioritize their children’s diets, with implications for their own health and well-being.

Funding Sources: This research is funded by NIH/FIC and received support from support from the Population Research Training and the Population Research Infrastructure Program awarded to the Carolina Population Center at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.