Objective:

To determine the levels of household food insecurity in children from 0 to 59 months old in Colombia and their associated sociodemographic factors.

Materials and methods:

A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out, in terms of a secondary analysis of the National Survey of the Nutritional Situation in Colombia from 2015, a total of 12 894 young children between 0 and 59 months old were evaluated using the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale; Sociodemographic and economic characteristics were evaluated; the food insecurity was examined by each of the sociodemographic variables; Poisson regression multivariate models were used to estimate associations.

Results:

The average age was 29,6 months, and 48,8 % were girls; the results indicated that 59,9 % of children lived in households with some degree of food insecurity (severe: 8,8 %, moderate: 13,8 %, and mild: 37,3 %); it was found that the children whose parents had an educational level before elementary school and those belonging to quartile 1 of wealth were most associated with having food insecurity in their households.

Conclusions:

Overall, the proportion of children residing in households with some degree of food insecurity in Colombia is high.

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