Dietary Diversity

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International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2015) documents that some poorer societies and communities lack access to sufficient quantity or quality food as close to one billion people are facing challenges of not having enough food and two billion are suffering from micronutrient deficiencies. Dietary diversity has been defined as the number of different foods or food groups that are consumed over a specific reference period. According to Zainal-Badari et al. [2012] adequate nutrient intake necessary for good nutrition has often been associated with food variety and diet quality of individuals.

Under-nutrition during a mother’s pregnancy until a child is two years old can cause irreversible physical and cognitive deficits (SPRING, …show more content…

The vast majority of these people live in the developing countries. There is a growing consensus that increasing the dietary diversity (more food groups) can help improve diet quality, especially among women [Biodiversity International, 2014; Martin-Prével, 2014].

While enhanced agricultural productivity is an important development goal, merely producing more food, or improving market access to sell surpluses, does not automatically lead to food security or improved nutrition (Herforth et al., 2014). Recently, development agencies have focused on the lack of dietary diversity as a critical impediment to the reduction of the high rates of malnutrition in developing countries (Jones, Shrinivas, and Bezner-Kerr., 2014, Cordeiro et al. 2012).

Increased dietary diversity is thought to increase the probability of a healthier diet (Marshall, Burrows, and Collins 2014) and positive anthropometric outcomes, in Africa (Headey, …show more content…

In Kenya, malnutrition is indicated by stunting levels at 26% (KDHS, 2014).

1.2. Problem Statement
Despite the importance of dietary diversity being well acknowledged, there is paucity of scientific data in Kenya on dietary diversity, nutrient intake and nutritional status of pregnant women in Kiambu County.

Furthermore, as rightly noted by Kiboi et al. (2017), recommended that similar studies on dietary diversity, nutrient intake and nutritional status be done during other seasons so that it can better explain the true dietary diversity of the study population. He further noted, it would be prudent to conduct that in other counties in Kenya.

To address this gap, this study aimed at determining dietary diversity, nutrient intake and nutritional status among pregnant women in Kiambu County. Hidden hunger such as folate, zinc, iron, vitamin A, B6, B12, C, E and riboflavin deficiencies are highly prevalent and may occur concurrently among pregnant women. Further, micronutrient deficiencies are said to be widely spread among women and children in developing countries (Allen, 2014). This may be due to monotonous

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