Managing interactions between household food security and preschooler health

Nutritional status is also influenced by nonfood factors, such as clean water, sanitation, and health care. This study examines how food availability and diarrhea interact in three countries -- Ethiopia, Pakistan, and the Philippines -- and what this interaction means for preschooler malnutrition. Results show that the links among household food consumption, diarrhea, and malnutrition are stronger than most economic studies have assumed. When diarrhea is prevalent, the effects of food shortages on child malnutrition are worse, and when food is scarce, the effects of diarrhea on child malnutrition are worse. These findings have important policy and program implications. If factors other than food are critical elements in turning food consumption into good nutrition, then policymakers will need to ensure that the poor do not have to choose between, for example, food and health care. Includes references. (Author abstract, modified)