abstract: 'Introduction: The magnitude of child malnutrition including severe child

  malnutrition is especially high in the rural areas of the Democratic

  Republic of Congo (the DRC). The aim of this qualitative study is to

  describe the social context of malnutrition in a rural part of the DRC

  and explore how some households succeed in ensuring that their children

  are well-nourished while others do not.

  Methodology: This study is based on participant observation, key

  informant interviews, group discussions and in-depth interviews with

  four households with malnourished children and four with well-nourished

  children. We apply social field theory to link individual child

  nutritional outcomes to processes at local level and to the wider

  socio-economic environment.

  Findings: We identified four social fields that have implications for

  food security and child nutritional outcomes: 1) household size and

  composition which determined vulnerability to child malnutrition, 2)

  inter-household cooperation in the form of `gbisa work party'' which

  buffered scarcity of labour in peak seasons and facilitated capital

  accumulation, 3) the village associated with usufruct rights to land,

  and 4) the local NGO providing access to agricultural support, clean

  drinking water and health care.

  Conclusions: Households that participated in inter-household cooperation

  were able to improve food and nutrition security. Children living in

  households with high pressure on productive members were at danger of

  food insecurity and malnutrition. Nutrition interventions need to

  involve local institutions for inter-household cooperation and address

  the problem of social inequalities in service provision. They should

  have special focus on households with few resources in the form of land,

  labour and capital.'
affiliation: 'Kismul, H (Corresponding Author), Univ Bergen, Ctr Int Hlth, N-5009
  Bergen, Norway.

  Kismul, Hallgeir; Van den Broeck, Jan; Moland, Karen Marie, Univ Bergen, Ctr Int
  Hlth, N-5009 Bergen, Norway.

  Hatloy, Anne, Fafo, N-0608 Oslo, Norway.

  Andersen, Peter, Univ Bergen, Dept Geog, N-5020 Bergen, Norway.

  Mapatano, Mala, Univ Kinshasa, Sch Publ Hlth, Kinshasa 1, DEM REP CONGO.'
article-number: '47'
author: Kismul, Hallgeir and Hatloy, Anne and Andersen, Peter and Mapatano, Mala and
  Van den Broeck, Jan and Moland, Karen Marie
author-email: hallgeir.kismul@cih.uib.no
author_list:
- family: Kismul
  given: Hallgeir
- family: Hatloy
  given: Anne
- family: Andersen
  given: Peter
- family: Mapatano
  given: Mala
- family: Van den Broeck
  given: Jan
- family: Moland
  given: Karen Marie
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1186/s12939-015-0175-x
eissn: 1475-9276
files: []
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR EQUITY IN HEALTH
keywords: 'Malnutrition; Marasmus; Kwashiorkor; Food security; Subsistence

  agriculture; Social inequality; Social capital; The Democratic Republic

  of Congo'
keywords-plus: 'HEALTH-CARE; FOOD SECURITY; LAND-TENURE; NUTRITION; GENDER; INEQUALITY;

  URBAN; DIFFERENTIALS; MORTALITY; UNDERNUTRITION'
language: English
month: MAY 19
number-of-cited-references: '88'
orcid-numbers: Hatloy, Anne/0000-0002-3668-3216
papis_id: e2fe6482691bdabb961f71eccd387ec1
ref: Kismul2015socialcontext
times-cited: '10'
title: 'The social context of severe child malnutrition: a qualitative household case
  study from a rural area of the Democratic Republic of Congo'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000355174100001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '27'
volume: '14'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2015'