Assessment of Food Security, Eating Patterns, Physical Activity and Nutritional Status among Lactating Women in Bujumbura, Burundi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70851/jfines.2026.3(1).80.88Keywords:
Lactating women, Food security, Dietary Diversity, Physical activity, Nutritional StatusAbstract
For lactating women, nutritional requirements for supporting maternal health and optimal infant growth are generally insufficient in low-income countries, like Burundi. Due to insufficient information covering this issue, our study aimed to assess the relationship between food security, eating patterns, dietary diversity, daily physical activity, and nutritional status among lactating women in Bujumbura, Burundi. A cross-sectional study was used over one month where participants’ recruitment used a consecutive sampling technique. Considering the estimated underweight prevalence (11%) among lactating women of reproductive age in Burundi, sample size was calculated to be 165. IBM SPSS version 20.0 used as analysis tool. Among 165 lactating women, most were aged 20-30 years (53.3%), married (92.7%), unemployed (64.8%), had at least secondary education (72.7%), and had fewer than three children (61.8%). After adjusting for age, marital status, education, occupation and parity, achieving minimum dietary diversity was protective against underweight (AOR = 0.267; 95%CI 0.069 -1.038, p = 0.047) and significantly associated with overweight (AOR = 2.646; 95%CI, 0.968 - 7.231 p = 0.031). Low physical activity was strongly associated with obesity ((AOR = 24.990; 95%CI 1.477-422.824, p = 0.026), and underweight (AOR = 7.937; 95%CI 1.375 -45.804, p = 0.021), while high physical activity was positively associated with achieving dietary diversity (AOR = 6.800; 95% CI 2.413 -19.161; p = 0.000). Food security alone was not significantly associated with either underweight, overweight, or obesity. Nutritional status among lactating women in Bujumbura is influenced more by dietary diversity and physical activity than by household food security alone. Promoting diverse diets and active lifestyles, alongside programs improving food access, are recommended.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mkwandu Victoria Leonard, Nahimana Hilaire, Nfukamo Abeli Sadock (Author)
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