Janananda, B.Ansong, R.S.Steiner‑Asiedu, M.2023-09-122023-09-122023https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00325-1http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/39930Research ArticleFish is readily available to fshing communities. Given the high nutritional value of fsh, these communities are expected to have better nutritional status, compared to non-fshing communities. However, this assumption is not well studied across coastal fshing communities in Ghana. Hence, this cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and fsh consumption of children living in coastal fshing communities in Ghana. Nutritional status of 384 randomly selected children was assessed using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. MUAC less than 12.5 cm was used as the cutof to identify malnourished children. Food and fsh consumption patterns were assessed using an adopted and pretested food frequency questionnaire. The fndings showed a prevalence of 0.5% wasting among surveyed children. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the study participants was 4.3 ± 1.2. The mean DDS of the children of fsher mothers was less than that of the children of the female caregivers who are involved in other occupations. However, no signifcant diference was observed in the DDS across the coastal regions. Seventy eight percent of the children who participated in the study consumed an adequately diversifed diet, and more than 40 diferent small fsh species were con sumed across the four coastal regions. The average median weekly fsh intake among the children in the study sample was 213 (64–468) g. Considering that one-third of the employed respondents were fsherfolk, coupled with the availability of a great diversity of small fsh in the communities, the fndings of our study suggest that there is great potential to incorporate small fsh into strategic interventions aimed at improving nutrition, food security, and achieving economic sustainability in these communities.enSmall fishFishing communitiesChild nutritionArticle