MATERNAL DIET QUALITY AND NUTRITIONAL SATISFACTION IN RURAL BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Maternal nutrition critically influences women's health and intergenerational well-being, yet in rural Nigeria, mothers face significant food insecurity and limited dietary diversity, while how they subjectively evaluate their dietary experience—termed nutritional satisfaction—remains unexplored. This community-based cross-sectional study assessed the association between diet quality and nutritional satisfaction among 330 mothers with children under five across six rural communities in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Diet quality was assessed using the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) indicator and Household Dietary Diversity Score, while nutritional satisfaction was measured using a validated 10-item Likert scale. Food security was evaluated using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Mean participant age was 28.4±6.2 years, with only 34.5% of mothers achieving adequate dietary diversity (MDD-W≥5) and a mean score of 3.8±1.4. Grains dominated diets (98.5%), while animal-source food consumption was critically low (meat 22.5%, dairy 15.3%, eggs 12.8%). Food insecurity affected 62.3% of households, and mean nutritional satisfaction was 3.1±0.8 on a 5-point scale, with lowest scores for affordability (2.6±1.1) and variety (2.8±1.0). MDD-W significantly correlated with nutritional satisfaction (r=0.42, p<0.001), and independent predictors of nutritional satisfaction were MDD-W (β=0.31, p<0.001), food security (β=0.24, p=0.002), and women's decision-making autonomy (β=0.18, p=0.01). This study demonstrates that maternal diet quality is suboptimal in rural Bauchi State and significantly associated with nutritional satisfaction, highlighting the urgent need for multi-sectoral interventions addressing dietary diversity, food security, and women's empowerment.