Background: Household nutritional fulfillment is influenced by the interaction between food security and local knowledge, which is affected by various factors. These processes are actively influenced by political and economic systems in which imbalances exist at the local, national and global levels. Health beliefs and food taboos are two emerging outcomes that are divided into health outcomes that are beneficial, harmless or harmful health outcomes.
Methods: This study aimed to capture household food and nutrition security conditions, In addition to exploring the differences between regions, the differences between the urban and rural areas in the region were also explored. The 300 household samples were selected using clustered sampling. The subjects were households in each study site that was clustered according to their respective Integrated Healthcare Centre (Posyandu, furthermore will be addressed as post).
Results: Score of household food diversity in West Nusa Tenggara, 62.7%, is high. More households with high food diversity scores in urban areas than rural areas. Meanwhile, there are more households with moderate and low food diversity scores in rural areas than in urban areas. The average food diversity score in urban areas is higher than in rural areas. In households with a low level of diversity in food consumption (≤ 5 food groups), in rural areas, the food consumed is cereals (staple food), vegetables, fruits, and nuts, without the food group being a source of animal protein.
Conclusions:. This study found that pregnant women in the study area had high dietary quality scores (high DDS) and perceptions of food taboos related to health and cultural acceptance. Dietary diversity and food insecurity were associated with the prevalence of nutritional status, but food taboos and BMI malnutrition in mothers were not significant risk factors for the prevalence of nutritional status in toddlers.