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1st Int. Transborder Conf. of the Timor Island: Timor %u2013 Science without borderDili, 7-8 May 2025127Association between Maternal Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Status of Children in Timor-LesteLet%u00edcia Jomardo 1,2*, Faraja Chiwile 3, Bruno M.P.M. Oliveira 1,4 and Patr%u00edcia Padr%u00e3o1,5,6*1Faculdade de Ci%u00eancias da Nutri%u00e7%u00e3o e Alimenta%u00e7%u00e3o da Universidade do Porto2Faculdade Medicina e Ciencias de Sa%u00fade da Universidade Nacional Timor- Lorosa%u2019e3 Unicef- Timor-Leste 4 Laborat%u00f3rio de Intelig%u00eancia Artificial e Apoio %u00e0 Decis%u00e3o, Instituto de Engenharia de Sistema e Computadores-Tecnologia e Ci%u00eancia, Porto, Portugal 5*EPIUnit- Instituto de Sa%u00fade P%u00fablica da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; e-mail 6*Laborat%u00f3rio para a Invertiga%u00e7%u00e3o Integrativa e Translacional em Sa%u00fade Populacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal*Corresponding author: up202203354@fcna.up.pt/ leticiajomardo31@gmail.com;AbstractDiversity is crucial for ensuring adequate nutrition, especially in regions with a high prevalence of food insecurity. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between maternal dietary diversity and the nutritional status of their children. This study used data from the Timor-Leste Food and Nutrition Survey, including 11,216 children aged 0 to 59 months and 8,991 mothers aged 15 to 49 years. Maternal dietary diversity was assessed using a Food and Agriculture Organization tool, including the intake of eight food groups consumed the previous day, classified as high (consumption of %u22655 food groups) or low. The nutritional status of the children was evaluated through anthropometric measurements (weight, height, and arm circumference), and body mass index (BMI) and z-scores for height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age were calculated. Individuals were classified based on the World Health Organization reference values. The weight and height of the mothers were measured, their BMI calculated, and sociodemographic and health variables of the mothers and children, children's dietary diversity, food security, and household wealth index were collected through questionnaires. The results shot that the mean (SD) maternal dietary diversity was 5.17 (2.05) food groups consumed. It was observed that 42.3% of the mothers had low nutritional diversity. Among the children analyzed, the prevalence of very low/low height-for-age was 49.5%, very low/low weight-for-age was 32.3%, and low weight-forheight was 7.8%. Maternal dietary diversity was positively associated with the nutritional status of the children. The B coefficients for all variables analyzed (arm circumference, weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height) were positive and highly significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Higher maternal dietary diversity was associated with better child nutritional indicators. The development of nutrition programs and public health policies should include promoting maternal dietary diversity to contribute to better child nutritional status.Keywords: dietary diversity; child nutrition; maternal education; food insecurity; Timor-Leste