Household food insecurity, nutritional status and morbidity in Brazilian children

Abstract

Objective: To identify the association of household food insecurity (HFI) with anthropometric status, the risk of vitamin A deficiency and anaemia, morbidities such as cough and fever, and hospitalizations for diarrhoea and pneumonia in children under 5 years old. Design: Cross-sectional study using data from the 2006 Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey. HFI was measured with the Brazilian Food Insecurity Measurement Scale (EBIA). Vitamin A deficiency and anaemia were assessed in blood samples. Child morbidities were reported by the child's mother and included cough, fever, and hospitalizations for diarrhoea and pneumonia. Regression results were expressed as unadjusted and adjusted OR and corresponding 95 % CI for severe food insecurity, with statistical significance set at P < 0·05. Setting: Nationally representative survey. Subjects: Children (n 4064) under 5 years old. Results: There was no association between HFI and vitamin A deficiency, pneumonia, wasting or overweight. The prevalence of cough, fever, hospitalization for diarrhoea and stunting were associated with degree of HFI severity. There was a significant association of morbidities and stunting with severe food insecurity (v. food secure). After controlling for confounders, the association between severe food insecurity (v. food secure/rest of food insecurity categories) and the prevalence of common morbidities remained strong, showing that severely food-insecure children had a greater likelihood of experiencing cough (adjusted OR = 1·79) and of being hospitalized for diarrhoea (adjusted OR = 2·55). Conclusions: Severe HFI was associated with cough and severe diarrhoea among Brazilian children. Household food insecurity (HFI) happens when people do not have, at all times, physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (1) . HFI is a global epidemic that can lead to hunger and malnutrition. The FAO estimates that 795 million people are undernourished globally (2) . In Brazil, only 62·5 % of households are considered food secure and 4·8 % are severely food insecure, a percentage that reaches 5·8 % in households with minors under the age of 18 years (3) . HFI is known to be associated with insufficient or inadequate food intake (4) and this low intake of healthy foods and micronutrients is associated with worse health status (5) , both in developed and developing countries. Children are negatively affected by HFI (6,7) as it has been associated with a higher prevalence of hospitalization, respiratory infection, fever, diarrhoea, and nutritional deficiencies such as Fe deficiency and other forms of malnutrition compared with children living in food-secure households (8)(9)(10) . Food deprivation and poor dietary quality in childhood influence children's growth, psycho-emotional, social and cognitive development, and overall health (11,12) . According to the 2006 Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), only 57 % of 12-to 18...

Perfil nutricional de crianças no estado do Maranhão

“…As reported in other studies 28,29 , the indicator of food insecurity also showed a significant correlation with the height of the children, which place children living in food insecurity conditions at greater risk of having low height for age, possibly as a consequence of a process of chronic malnutrition, even if in moderate severity. Despite the high prevalence of children exposed to some level of food insecurity, we could not find an association between food insecurity and BMI, which is comparable to the findings by Gubert et al 30 in a sample representative of Brazil. Overall, the results reflect the conditions of low human development and social exclusion in which the population of Maranhão lives 14,15 , bringing about the intimate relationship between environment conditions experienced by the child and their nutritional status.…”

Food insecurity and anaemia risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…1). A total of nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria to be included in the pooled analysis (13)(14)(15)(16)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) . Among these (58) describing the systematic literature search and selection of studies on food insecurity and anaemia risk Fischer et al…”

“…(2015) (27) ; Vietnam Food insecurity and anaemia risk nineteen studies, seventeen used a cross-sectional approach (14,15,16,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) , whereas the other two were longitudinal studies (13,25) . The risk ratios of 95 993 individuals in these studies were pooled for the meta-analysis.…”

“…Food insecurity, through the causation of anaemia (13,21,30) , can lead to poor scholastic performance and cognitive impairment (41) and increase susceptibility to infection, morbidity and mortality in children (42) . Also, maternal anaemia can lead to poor pregnancy outcomes, including (34) Eicher-Miller et al (2009) (21) Osei et al (2010) (23) Campbell et al (2011) (24) Fischer et al (2014) (14) Pirkle et al (2014) (25) Shen et al (2015) (28) Lisbôa et al (2015) (26) Nguyen et al (2015) (27) Gubert et al (2016) (29) Jones et al (2016) (16) Weigel et al (2016) (32) Metallinos-Katsaras et al (2016) (13) Ghose et al (2016) (15) Habib et al (2016) (30) Nair et al (2016) (31) Demétrio et al (2017) (33) Overall (21) Park et al (2009) (22) Skalicky et al (2006) (20) Pirkle et al (2014) (25) Overall (I 2 = 0 . 0 %, P = 0 .…”

Pengembangan Indeks Ketahanan Pangan Rumah Tangga dan Kaitannya dengan Tingkat Kecukupan Zat Gizi dan Status Gizi Anak Balita

“…Hasil beberapa studi di berbagai negara menyebutkan bahwa tingkat ketahanan pangan suatu rumah tangga berkaitan erat dengan status gizi pada balita berdasarkan indikator antropometri underweight (BB/U), stunting (TB/U, dan wasting (BB/TB). [60][61][62] Hubungan antara ketahanan pangan rumah tangga dengan status gizi dalam penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa rumah tangga tahan pangan lebih mampu dan menyediakan makanan yang beragam untuk anak-anak mereka sehingga tercapai status gizi optimal. Rumah tangga yang rawan pangan cenderung memberi makanan yang padat energi dan kekurangan zat gizi mikro sehingga berdampak pada kekurangan gizi pada anak.…”