Urban household characteristics and dietary diversity: An analysis of food security in Accra, Ghana
Abstract
The world’s population is increasingly becoming urbanized. If the current urban growth rate is to continue, new and unprecedented challenges for food security will be inevitable. Dietary diversity has been used to ascertain food security status albeit at the multi-country and country levels. Thus, household-level studies in urban settings, particularly in sub-Sahara African, are few. Yet, it is imperative that assessments of food security are undertaken particularly in urban settings, due to the projected fast rate of urbanization and the challenges of attaining food security. The objective was to examine household characteristics and dietary diversity. The study uses data from 452 households from the second round of the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) EDULINK urban poverty and health study. Bivariate and multivariate analyses are undertaken. Mean dietary diversity for all households is 6.8. Vegetables have the highest diversity, followed by cereal-based and grain products. Household characteristics that have statistically significant associations with dietary diversity include sex and level of education of household head, household wealth quintile, and source of food. There is high dietary diversity in the study communities of Accra but low consumption of foods rich in micronutrient, such as fruits and milk/dairy products. The study brings to fore issues related to resource-disadvantaged entities of the urban system, namely, females, poor households, and the non-educated who have food insecurity problems.
Cite this
APA
Codjoe, S. N. A., Okutu, D., & Abu, M. (2016). Urban household characteristics and dietary diversity: An analysis of food security in Accra, Ghana. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 37(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0379572116631882
Harvard
Codjoe, S. N. A., Okutu, D. and Abu, M. (2016) ‘Urban household characteristics and dietary diversity: An analysis of food security in Accra, Ghana’, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 37(2), pp. 1–17. doi:10.1177/0379572116631882.
BibTeX
@article{codjoe2016urban,
author = {Codjoe, S.N.A. and Okutu, D. and Abu, M.},
title = {Urban household characteristics and dietary diversity: An analysis of food security in Accra, Ghana},
journal = {Food and Nutrition Bulletin},
year = {2016},
volume = {37},
number = {2},
pages = {1--17},
doi = {10.1177/0379572116631882}
}