Dietary Diversity in Rural Areas of Khorasan-Razavi Province and its Determining Variables

Food security not only requires an adequate supply of food, but also manages the equitable distribution of food and income. The FAO estimates that about 98% of the world's food insecure and malnourished people live in developing countries, with the largest number of malnourished people living in Asia and the Pacific. Given that the majority of the populations of developing countries live in rural areas, improving the level of food security of rural households is a very prominent goal in developing countries. In Iran also, the ratio of severe malnutrition is 4.9% of the total population. The poverty line in Khorasan Razavi rural areas has increased by 28.4% in the summer of 2018 compared to the spring of 2018, which may indicate that more people are below the poverty line in 2018 than in previous years. Also, in comparing the rural and urban poverty line in Khorasan Razavi, the rural poverty line had a higher growth compared with  the urban poverty line during this period, that indicate an increase in poverty in these areas. So, it is important to examine food security situation especially in these areas and identify the variables that determine it. The aim of current study is to analyze the nutritional status of rural households in Khorasan Razavi province.

Data for the study are prepared by collecting 400 questionnaires from 40 villages selected by multistage cluster sampling in 2019 in Khorasan Razavi province. In this study Berry index and food group counts were used to assess dietary diversity. Using the FAO classification and the human nutritional pyramid, consumed foods were pooled into 14 groups. These include bread, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish and seafood, oils and butter, pastries, spices, cereals, nuts and seeds, eggs, milk and dairy products, Potatoes, drinks and rice. In the Berry Index, dietary diversity is measured by the number and distribution of food consumption and in the food group index, food scores are measured using the 24-hour dietary method. In order to investigate the factors affecting the equal share of rural households' food consumption, the Ordinal Logit model was used. The dependent variable was divided into five groups: very low food diversity, low food diversity, downward average food diversity, upward average food diversity and high food diversity.

Based on results, average index of food groups in the region is 6.08, which indicate that dietary diversity is at a moderate and favorable level, but the average of the Berry index in the study area is 0.83. On average, dietary diversity, and consequently food security, is moderately lower and almost desirable. The difference between the minimum and maximum numerical values of both indices in the sample showed a significant difference between dietary diversity and food security in the studied sample. Thus, the studied rural households are in a moderate level of food security in terms of number of consumed food groups but in moderately low level in terms of share of food groups' consumption. Using the ordinal logit model, variables including gender, education, housing status, monthly food cost, household purchasing power index, awareness, market access and food aid all positively influence household dietary diversity. In other words, increases in the level of these independent variables increase the likelihood that households will be at higher levels of dietary diversity. Parallel regression tests were used to determine whether the ordinal logit model is a suitable model and after performing the relevant test, the ordinal logit model provided the parallel regression condition and the ordinal logit model provided a suitable model.

According to the results of the study, improving the food security of rural households in the region requires providing suitable employment opportunities for female-headed households and providing facilities such as micro-credit for setting up and developing household businesses. It is also needed to provide food aids in a variety of food baskets for rural households.