The association between food production, food security, household consumer behaviour and waist-hip ratio amongst women in smallholder farming households in Kilifi County, Kenya

Food insecurity disproportionately affects smallholder farming households and within them women, who bear primary caregiving responsibilities and contend with time and resource constraints that heighten their vulnerability to adverse nutrition-related health outcomes. This study cross-sectionally investigates the association between food production practices, household consumer behaviour, and the experience of food insecurity with women's waist-hip ratio (WHR), a key indicator of abdominal obesity, in a coastal community in Kenya. In total, 394 households were randomly selected from a list of farming households in Kaloleni and Rabai sub-counties of Kilifi. Trained enumerators administered questionnaires to adult female family members who play a pivotal role in household management. Household dietary diversity scores (HDDS) were computed from 16 food groups consumed in the 7 days preceding the survey. Waist-hip measurements focused on these females, representing vulnerable populations. Pathway-based regression models were constructed using STATA version 13 (p