Evaluation of nutritional status and food security in children and importance of socioeconomic status

Introduction: Food insecurity has been the major public health problem during the two past decades attracted the attention of population,scientists and policy makers. Food insecurity is defined as "limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable food in socially acceptable ways". Regarding energy efficiency, ۲۰% and ۲۳/۲% of households had food insecurity during ۱۹۹۶ and ۲۰۰۱ in Iran, respectively. Since now food insecurity has not been assessed directly in national, state or country levels .The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of food insecurity as well as some other variables among families with children within the age range of ۱-۵ years old living in the Ajabshir of East Azarbaijan, Iran.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in an informal setting, namely Ajabshir. This cross-sectional study was conducted on ۳۴۰ households using simple random sampling technique. A demographic questionnaire was utilized to analyze the population as well as the social and economic status of the households. Moreover, the food security status of the participants were measured by the USDA household food security questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA .Results: The prevalence of the household food insecurity was ۷۴/۵%. Food insecurity was significantly associated with wasting, overweight, underweight, and obesity (P<۰.۰۰۱). There was no significant relationship between food insecurity and stunting (P=۰.۰۴). The obtained results showed that food insecurity had a significant correlation with the level of education, occupational status of the breadwinner, and housing ownership status (P<۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: The investigated population suffered from food insecurity and showed a significant positive correlation with some factors, such as the occupational status of the breadwinner and housing ownership. Moreover, the number of underweight, overweight, and obese children was also higher in the food insecurity group. Therefore, the prevalence of food insecurity can be diminished by improving the household facilities.