THE STATE OF FOOD SECURITY AND DIETARY DIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN CAMEROON

Introduction: The world is facing a serious infectious disease that has now reached the stage of a pandemic; it is the COVID-19 disease. Its impact on food security remains unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the dietary diversity and food security among Cameroonian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study conducted between March and April 2020. A well-structured online questionnaire consisting of three sections namely the sociodemographic characteristics, dietary diversity and food security was completed by participants. The cleaned data was analysed using SPSS version 26.0.

Results: The mean Dietary Diversity Score among the adults was 4.0 and 50% were food insecure. There was a significant negative correlation between food insecurity and DDS of the participants (r = -0.098, p=0.023). Fats and oil, cereals, vegetables, and roots and tubers were the most consumed food groups by more than 50% of the participants. Males had a significantly higher DDS score than women (OR: 1.89, 95% CI 1.27-2.80).

Conclusion: The mean dietary diversity seems low in the country and food insecurity high. Low level of education and income were found to be determinant predictors of low dietary diversity and food insecurity. Thus, these findings prove there is the need to improve the programmes aimed at decreasing food insecurity and improve diversity of diet in Cameroon.