Food Insecurity and Not Dietary Diversity Is a Predictor of Nutrition Status in Children within Semiarid Agro-Ecological Zones in Eastern Kenya

Table 1

Characteristics of women and children in farmer households in lower midland ASAL regions of Eastern Kenya.

Characteristic WRA	Total ()	LM4 ()	LM5 ()	value
Mean (SE) years	29.5 (0.4)	29.3 (0.5)	29.6 (0.6)	0.675
15–29 years %	56.7	58.7	54.7	0.463
30–39 years %	33.9	34.1	33.8
40–46 years %	9.4	7.2	11.5
Marital status
Never married %	9.6	9.0	10.2	0.795
Married %	86.0	87.3	84.7
Separated/widowed/divorced %	4.4	3.7	5.1
Education level
Primary level and below %	81.2	81.9	80.4	0.878
Secondary level and below %	18.8	18.1	19.6
Characteristics, children 6–36 months
Gender (%)
Girls %	50.2	53.6	46.8	0.254
Boys %	49.8	46.4	53.2
6–23 months %	57.4	59.4	55.4	0.498
24–36 months %	42.6	40.6	44.6
Age in months
Mean (SE) months	21.2 (0.5)	20.8 (0.7)	21.5 (0.7)	0.446
Mean (SE) 6–23 months	15.0 (0.4)	15.0 (0.5)	15.0 (0.5)	0.986
Mean (SE) 24–36 months	29.4 (0.3)	29.2 (0.4)	29.6 (0.4)	0.525
Household characteristics
Family size
Mean household size (SE)	7.0 (0.1)	7.1 (0.2)	6.8 (0.2)	0.274
3-4 people %	11.4	9.6	13.1	0.410
5-6 people %	37	40.4	33.6
≥7 people %	51.6	50.0	53.3
Household food security
Food secure %	6.5	5.1	8.0	0.173
Moderately insecure %	6.9	9.4	4.3
Food insecure %	86.6	85.5	87.7

SE: standard error; LM: lower midlands agroecological zones.