Dietary diversity and its association with nutritional status among preschool children aged 2–5 years attending outpatient clinics in Karachi: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To assess the dietary diversity among pre-school children aged 2-5 years visiting Family Medicine and Pediatric outpatient clinics in Karachi and compare it with their BMIs and MUACs.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Family Medicine and Paediatric outpatient clinics of Indus Hospital Karachi from August 2024 till November 2024. A total of three hundred and thirty four children were included in the survey according to the inclusion criteria through non-probability consecutive sampling. The sample size was achieved six months after the approval of IRB. Data was collected using the Food Frequency Questionnaire and child’s socio demographic details which was then analysed on SPSS version 26 and compared with their BMI and MUACs in the end.

Results: The majority of the preschool-aged children in the study were male, lived in cities, and had parents with poor incomes and little education. Of all the children, 81.4% had inadequate dietary diversity score (DDS), with a mean DDS of 2.46 ± 0.74. In addition to being positively correlated with BMI (β = 0.38, p = 0.025) and MUAC (β = 0.68, p < 0.001), higher DDS was also linked to older age, urban residency, and higher parental income and education.

Conclusion: This study highlighted the major food group preferences among pre-school children aged 2-5 years, hence identifying gaps to guide about early interventions for improving child nutrition.