PLOS ONE · 8 authors, 6 centres
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This cross-sectional study combined a national food market listing with a household survey to examine associations between market access and child nutrition in rural Cambodia. The central result is that distance to the nearest market was modestly associated with better dietary diversity but not with child height-for-age z-score, and household wealth did not modify these associations.
This secondary research study used a national listing of 503 food markets in Cambodia combined with data from a 2015 national household survey (CDHS). Researchers geocoded markets and used regression calibration to estimate household distances. Analyses focused on children under two years of age in rural areas. Multivariate linear regressions showed that distance to the nearest market was modestly associated with a lower child dietary diversity score (β: -0.17; 95% CI: -0.29, -0.05), but was not related to height-for-age z-score. Household wealth did not modify the association between distance and dietary diversity. The study found a highly uneven distribution of markets. Limitations include the cross-sectional design, which prevents causal inference, a four-year gap between market data collection and the household survey, and lack of detailed data on household food acquisition from different sources. The authors conclude that improving market access alone may not meaningfully improve child diet and suggest supporting other food sources like subsistence fishing and mobile traders.
