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Impact of the National Crusade against Hunger (CNCH) on anemia and dietary diversity among Mexican children
Author(s) -
ROSAS VERONICA MUNDO,
Levy Teresa Shamah,
Tapia Brenda Martínez,
GómezHumarán Ignacio Méndez
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.640.34
Subject(s) - dietary diversity , anemia , food group , environmental health , malnutrition , medicine , diversity (politics) , intervention (counseling) , gerontology , demography , food security , geography , agriculture , political science , archaeology , pathology , psychiatry , sociology , law
The National Crusade against Hunger (CNCH by its initials in Spanish) is a social inclusion and wellbeing strategy aimed at combating poverty, social marginalization and malnutrition in Mexico. The CNCH intervention was launched in Mexico during the current presidential term (2013 – 2018). Objective To assess the impact exerted by CNCH food assistance programs on the dietary diversity and nutritional status of children at one‐year follow‐up. Methods A comparative study was conducted with two cohorts of children under five years of age: 1. CNCH intervention group (n=1500) and 2. Control group (n=800). Assessment was performed in two stages: at baseline (2014) and at one‐year follow‐up (2015). The study used a randomized, probabilistic design based on a nationally representative sample. The children in both cohorts were residents of highly and very highly marginalized localities. A differences‐in‐differences estimator was combined with generalized linear models to estimate CNCH impact on anemia and dietary diversity indicators. Results The probability of suffering from anemia was lower in the CNCH than in the control group children (p=0.021). Furthermore, those in the CNCH group were more likely to consume cereals (p=0.022), leguminous vegetables (p<0.001), and fruit and vegetables (p=0.006) than were those in the control group (p=0.001). Conclusion The CNCH social food assistance programs contribute to [U1] dietary diversity and anemia reduction in children under five. It is recommended to monitor the care strategies in each program and to improve targeting in the most socially deprived households.