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Socioeconomic Status, Dietary Diversity, and Household Food Security as Correlates of Nutritional Status among Under-Five Children in Ibadan South- West, Oyo State, Nigeria

Famuyiwa HG, Aleru EO, Ademiluyi DD, Ilo JG, Owolabi KP et al. · 25 Aug 2026

Abstract

Abstract Background Household food insecurity and inadequate dietary diversity remain pervasive threats to child growth in sub-Saharan Africa, yet how these exposures, together with household socioeconomic status (SES), jointly relate to anthropometric outcomes in urban Nigeria is inadequately characterised. To determine the relationship between household SES, child dietary diversity, household food security, and nutritional status among under-five children in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area (LGA), Oyo State, Nigeria. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 caregiver–child pairs (children aged 6–59 months), selected through multi-stage random sampling across twelve communities spanning three socioeconomic strata. Food security was assessed with the nine-item HFIAS (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85), dietary diversity with the WHO/UNICEF Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) indicator, nutritional status with WHO Child Growth Standards z-scores, and SES with the Ibadin and Akpede scheme. Data were analysed using chi-square tests, Spearman's correlation, and multivariable logistic regression (p < 0.05). Results Only 19.5% of households were food secure; 52.1% were severely food insecure. Only 32.1% of children met minimum dietary diversity (mean DDS 4.0 ± 1.1 of 7 groups). Stunting (19.1%), wasting (9.8%), and underweight (9.3%) co-existed in the sample. Food insecurity rose sharply with declining SES, from 45.5% (Upper) to 98.4% (Lower) (χ² = 24.39, p < 0.001), and Lower-class households had markedly higher adjusted odds of food insecurity than Upper-class households (aOR = 88.40, 95% CI: 8.47–923.02). Dietary diversity was uniformly low across SES strata (p = 0.832), and neither dietary diversity nor food security was significantly associated with any anthropometric outcome (all p > 0.14). Conclusions Household socioeconomic status, rather than dietary diversity, was the dominant correlate of food insecurity, while a substantial dietary-diversity deficit existed uniformly across strata, independent of short-term anthropometric status. Nutrition programming in comparable urban Nigerian LGAs should combine SES-targeted food-security interventions with universal dietary-diversification strategies for under-five children.