Food insecurity in families with children under five years of age on the Brazil-Peru Amazon border

Abstract

Suggested citation: Ramalho AA, Mantovani SAS, Oliart-Guzmán H, Branco FLCC, Braña AM, Martins AC, et al. Food insecurity in families with children under fi ve years of age on the Brazil-Peru Amazon border. J Hum Growth Dev. 2016; 26(3): 307-315 Abstract:Food and nutrition security is the regular and permanent access to quality food in suffi cient quantity. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with food insecurity in households with children under fi ve in the Amazon frontier Brazil -Peru. The study was conducted in 352 households in Assis Brasil (Brazil) and 89 households Iñapari (Peru), fi nding a prevalence of food insecurity of 40.6 % and 38.2 % , respectively ( p = 0.856 ) . In Assis Brasil, having domicile with wood fl oors or land increased by 2.47 times the odds of food insecurity compared to cement fl oors, ceramic or quarry tiles . Belonging to the poorest tertile increased the chance of food insecurity in 6.04 times ( p < 0.001 ), and the increment of each new resident increased by 37 % the chance of food insecurity in the household . In Iñapari, only living in house made of wood or with a wood fl oor was associated with food insecurity, showing that income is still the main factor associated with food insecurity in the Amazonian borders.

Food Insecurity during Pregnancy in a Maternal–Infant Cohort in Brazilian Western Amazon

“…The PNAD also noted that the increase in the severity of food insecurity decreases with the proportion of households covered by the sewage collection network: 63.2% with food security, 44.2% in light FI, and 34.4% in severe FI [7]. This direct association between FI and lower economic class, participation in income transfer programs, and worse sanitary conditions was also observed in the present study for pregnant women in Rio Branco, as well as in other studies carried out with different population groups [8,12,[30][31][32].…”

“…This result highlights the social inequalities experienced in remote regions such as the Western Brazilian Amazon [7,8,21]. Rio Branco, capital of Acre where this study was developed, is one of the Brazilian capitals with the lowest Human Development Index, which partially explains why the prevalence of food insecurity found in this study has been higher than other national findings [7,8,12,[30][31][32] and the factors associated with this result, mainly of a socioeconomic nature. This is the first population-based study on food insecurity during pregnancy conducted in the city of Rio Branco, Acre and in the Western Brazilian Amazon.…”

“…In 2010, Frazao et al [26], when studying schoolchildren aged 7 to 9 in the urban area of Acrelândia, estimated FI prevalence at 54% (mild FI: 32.4% and moderate and severe FI: 21.6%). In an urban census of households with children under five in Assis Brasil, in 2011, Ramalho et al determined that the prevalence of FI was of 40.6% (mild: 24.1%, moderate: 10.5%; severe: 6.0%) [12], although these results should be evaluated carefully, since, in addition to the population groups being distinct, the Municipal Human Development Index (IDHM) of the capital is also higher (Rio Branco: 0.73; Acrelândia: 0.60; Assis Brasil: 0.59).…”

“…Infant mortality, impairment of physical and mental development, low birth weight, maternal mortality, increased school dropout, and reduced school performance are related to lack of healthy and quality food as a consequence of precarious access to income and goods and services [2,4,6]. Several studies point to a direct relationship between FI and decreased nutritional status in children [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Food Insecurity during the Gestational Period and Factors Associated with Maternal and Child Health

“…6 Several international studies point to a direct relationship between food insecurity and losses in the children nutritional status. [7][8][9][10][11] Laraia et al, 12 have proposed three potential reasons why food insecurity may be of particular importance in pregnancy: nutritional needs are increased due to physiological changes in the pregnant woman's organism (elevation of basal metabolic rate as a consequence of accelerated synthesis of fetal, placental, uterine, mammary and maternal reserve tissue; the increase in mass of metabolically active tissue and cardiorespiratory process), the effort required to prepare food may be more difficult and pregnant women are forced to leave work, especially at the end of pregnancy, which leads to financial squeezing. These reasons may influence nutrition, health conditions and nutritional maternal status and may have unsatisfactory pregnancy outcomes.…”