When family resources are limited, as in much of Timor-Leste (Mendoca 2002), the allocation of food
between adults and children and among children can be crucial to child growth (Crooks et al 2007, Haaga
and Mason 1987). We examine variation in household characteristics including resources available (e.g.
wage labour, house materials, education etc), place of residency (town or hamlet) and family composition,
and relate these variables to child growth in the Ossu area of Viqueque District. Because resources are
acquired through labour and are consumed by family members, the age and perhaps sex composition of
families may influence both resource accumulation and consumption (Pelto et al 1991).
From 1975 to 1999, the people of Timor-Leste suffered food shortages, foreign occupation,
warfare, civil disturbances and political upheaval on a background of general poverty. Today, a sizeable
proportion of the population (41%) survive on less than 88 cents per day (AUSAID 2011). Rural Timorese
live a predominantly subsistence lifestyle. The rural diet relies on crops such as rice, potatoes, maize,
papaya, banana, cassava and water spinach (Seeds of Life 2007). Most crops are seasonal resulting in a
period of food shortage from November to April (United Nation Food Programme 2005) during the long
wet season. Children suffer from malnutrition and are generally in poor health (Bucens and Maclennan
2006). High levels of infectious diseases such as malaria exacerbate nutrition problems. Infant mortality is
45 deaths per 1000 live births (National Statistics Directorate Ministry of Finance DRTL 2010) ranking 66
highest of 222 countries in the world for infant deaths (CIA 2011). While under-5 year child mortality has
declined in recent years, 58% of children under 5 years are stunted6
and 19% are wasted7
and these
proportions have increased since 2006 (National Statistics Directorate Ministry of Finance DRTL 2010).
Children are embedded in families and so understanding the conditions faced by families and their
responses is important for improving child health. Child growth is one indicator of the well-being of
families in subsistence economies like that of Timor-Leste (Crooks et al 2007).