Author : Tejasari

Summary : The study used secondary data from benchmark surveys of the Barangay Integrated Approach for Nutritional Improvement of the Rural Poor (BIDANI) covering 26 barangays (villages) in the province of Laguna, the Philippines. The study aimed to determine selected factors of socioeconomic, demographic, food-related, health, and sanitation factors affecting nutritional status of preschool children in selected BIDANI areas. Sample households were selected through cluster random sampling based on the major source of livelihood of the household that had at least one preschooler aged 3-83 months. Seven occupation groups identified, namely: small farmer, small fishermen, non-regular employee, small businessmen, skilled contract worker, personal service worker, and professionals. The respondents were also grouped according to ecological and geographical settings. On the average, without considering the occupational groups of the households, ecological, and geographical settings, 12.8 percent underweight (below 75 percent of the standard weight for age) and 13.5 percent were wasted (below 85 percent standard weight for height). There were 4.9 percent stunted preschoolers (below 90 percent of the standard height for age). Among the occupational groups, small farmer, skilled contract worker, non-regular employee, and small fishermen households were classified as the high risk groups because of the prevalence of underweight (above 10 percent) or stunted preschoolers (above 5 percent). There were more underweight preschoolers the rural areas (14.8 percent) than in urban areas (10.9 percent); on the other hand, stunting were higher among preschoolers in urban than in rural areas (5.2 vs. 4.7 percent, respectively). The prevalence of wasting was higher among preschoolers in upland (19.5 percent) than in coastal (6.9 percent) and lowland areas (12.9 percent). Whereas, stunting was higher among preschoolers in lowland (6.9 percent) than in upland (6.3 percent) and coastal areas (3.2 percent).