The Role of Household Structure on the Prevalence of Food Insecurity: A Cross Sectional Study in North West of Iran

Authors

  • Rahim Sharafkhani Shahroud University of Medical Sciences
  • Saeed Dastgiri دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تبریز- گروه اپیدمیولوژی- استاد.
  • Rasool Gharaaghaji Asl دانشگاه علوم پزشکی ارومیه- گروه آمار زیستی- استاديار.
  • Saaed Ghavamzadeh دانشگاه علوم پزشکی ارومیه- گروه تغذیه- استاديار.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22100/jkh.v7i1.62

Keywords:

Household dimension, Household structure, Young, Elderly, Food security.

Abstract

Introduction: Food is one of the basic needs of man the provision is intertwined with food security. No doubt, household's economic status has important effects on food security. Household structure may influence household's economic status and subsequently the food security of the family .This study aimed at determining the role of household age structure on household's food security.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 2500 households selected from Qaresoo region in Khoy, a city in the northwest of Iran. Household food security status was measured by a validated short questionnaire including six questions. Chi-square and logistic regression were used for data analysis using SPSS software.

Results: Out of 2439 households, 991(40.4%) were defined as food secure and the remaining 1448 (59.6%) were food insecure. There was a significant relationship between age structure of family and household food security status. Moreover, with a greater family size, the chances of food insecurity also increased. There was however no significant association between household food insecurity and the number of children (under five) and the number of elderly individuals at home

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that food insecurity is prevalent in the northwest of Iran. Traditional residence of the newly-formed families beside the parents in the rural areas, and proper nutritional education programs especially for households with young children, can help to reduce the risk of food insecurity in the community.

References

Life Sciences Research Office. Core items of nutritional state for difficult-to-sample populations. J Nutr 1990;120:1557-600.

Food and Agriculture Organization. Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Food: a fundamental Human right. FAO;1996.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The state of food insecurity in the world 2004: monitoring progress towards the world food summit and millennium development goals. FAO; 2004.

Ramesh T, Dorosti Motlagh AR, Abdollahi M. Prevalence of household food insecurity in the city of shiraz and its association with socio-economic and demographic factors, 2008. Journal of Nutrition Sciences 2010:4(4);53-64.[Persian].

Ghassemi H. Food security and nutrition country project: model studies of planning and implementation "Maba”. Research Institute of Nutrition and Food and the Plan and Budget organization.Tehran.1999.[Persian].

Dastgiri S ,Soltanali M, Totonchi H, Ostadrahimi A. Infeluencing factors on food insecurity: a cross sectional study in Tabriz years 2004-2005. Journal of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences 2006; 6(3):233-239.[Persian].

Office of Community Nutrition Improvement. National integrated micronutrient status 2001. Ministry of Health and Medical Education; UNICEF 2006.[Persian].

Kalantari N, Ghaffarpour M, Houshiarrad A, Abdollahi M, Kianfar H, Bondarianzadeh D. National comprehensive study on household food consumption pattern and nutritional status, IRAN 2001-2003. National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute;2005.[Persian].

Ghassemi H, Kimiagar M, Koupahi M. Food and nutrition security in Tehran Province. National Nutrition and Food Tecnology Research Institute;1996.[Persian].

Dini Torkamani A. Food security and its rate in Iran. Journal of Trade Studies 2000;14:121-148.[Persian].

Kendall A, Olson CM, Frongillo EA Jr. Validation of the Radimer/cornell measures of hunger and food insecurity. J Nutr 1995;125(11):2793-801.

Campbell CC. Food insecurity: A nutritional outcome or a predictor variable? J Nutr 1991;121(3):408-15.

Derrickson JP, Sakai M, Anderson J. Interpretations of the “balanced meal” household food security indicator. J Nutr Educ 2001;33(3):155-60.

Alaimo k, Briefel RR, Frongillo EA, Olson CM. Food insufficiency exists in the United States: Results from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANESIII). Am J Public Health 1998;88(3):419-426.

Kasper J, Gupta SK, Tran P, Cook JT, Meyers AF. Hunger in legal immigrants in California, Texas, and Illinois. Am J Public Health 2000;90(1):1629-33.

Olson CM. Nutrition and health outcomes associated with food insecurity and hunger in the US. J Nutr 1999;129(25):521S-24S.

Nord M, Andrews M, Carlson S. Household food security in the United Economic Research Report No. (ERR-11).Washington-DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture;2005.

Hamilton W, Cook J, Thompson W, Buron L, Frongillo E, Olson C, Wehler C. Household Food Security in the United States in 1995: Summary Report of the Food Security Measurement Project. Washington-DC: FCS/USDA;1997.

Dastgiri S, Ostadrahimi AR, Tutunchi H, Mahboob SA. Validity of a short questionnaire for food insecurity surveillance in Iran. Am J Epidemiol 2006;163-185.

Nweze Nnakwe, C. Yegammia. Prevalence of food insecurity among households with children in Coimbator, India. Nutrition Research 2002;22(9):1009-1016.

Furness BW, Simon PA, Wold CM, Asarian-Anderson J. Prevalence and predictors of food insecurity among low-income households in Los Angeles county. Public Health Nutr 2004;7(6):791-794.

Cason KL. Hunger and food insecurity: what can family and consumer scientists do? Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences 1999;91(1):49-55.

Published

2012-04-04

Issue

Section

Original Article(s)

How to Cite

The Role of Household Structure on the Prevalence of Food Insecurity: A Cross Sectional Study in North West of Iran. (2012). Knowledge and Health in Basic Medical Sciences, 7(1), 27-31. https://doi.org/10.22100/jkh.v7i1.62

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< < 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 > >>