Abstract:
The study was conducted to examine gender relations and nutritional status of children
and adults in Rudewa-Mbuyuni Village, Kilosa District as influenced by climate
variability. A face to face interview was conducted using questionnaires to obtain data
from 158 respondents. Three focus group discussions were held to supplement the
information captured through interviews. Anthropometric measurements of height,
weight and Mid Upper Arm Circumference were performed to assess the Body Mass
Index (BMI) of household members as a nutritional status indicator.The BMI of 124
children (52 boys and 72 girls) was assessed. The 24-hour dietary recall technique was
used to assess household food consumption. Data was analyzed using the IBM Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) software. About 73 %of the respondents were
male and 27% were female. Most respondents were within the age range of 20t060years
(73 %), 75% were married, about 86% owned a house and 93 %were farmers. Food
shortage was experienced by 82 % of households with 60% purchasing food for
consumption during the farming season. Most respondents (88 %) were aware of climate
change and linked it with changing rainfall and temperature regimes, and 74 % indicated
that climate variability had great impact on food production. The BMI for adult
respondents (70 %) was normal, 10 % were underweight, 20 % were either overweight or
obese. About 15% of the boys and 8 % of the girls were overweightand 12% of boys and
8% of girls were underweight.There is evidencethat the majority of households in
Rudewa-Mbuyuni do not meet their daily nutritional requirements due to food shortages
induced by erratic rainfall, linked to climate change; with differential impacts on nutrition
status across gender groups.
