Prevalence, Influencing Factors and Control of Food Insecurity: A Model in the Northwest of Iran

伊朗西北部糧食不安全盛行狀況及影響因素

Saeed Dastgiri ； Rahim Sharafkhani ； Rasool Gharaaghaji Asl ； Saeed Ghavamzadeh

《Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition》 20卷4期 (2011/12) Pp. 613-617

https://doi.org/10.6133/apjcn.2011.20.4.15

摘要

Food insecurity is frequent in both developed and developing countries, affecting from 5% to 25% of the general population. The aim of this study was to assess food insecurity, its influencing factors and control measures in the northwest of Iran. A total population of 15,070 (2,911 households) were studied. A short questionnaire was used for the screening of food insecurity and energy intake in this study. After the screening programme, those families identified as having food insecurity were recruited for the second part of the study which was a community trial. We organized small training campaigns (through peer education) for target households. Six months later, the same techniques were applied again to assess the impact of educational intervention in reducing the rate of food insecurity. Total prevalence of food insecurity in the study population was 59.3 percent (95% confidence interval: 57.4-61.3). Logistic regression showed that apart from the mother’s age and smoking status of the head of the family, there was a significant association between household food insecurity and other variables in the model (mainly economic factors). The prevalence of food insecurity reduced by 7.3 percent after the intervention (p＞0.10). The high prevalence of food insecurity in this study indicates that there is an urgent need for a close collaboration between governmental, international and local leadership to identify and implement the key interventional programmes to overcome this ever increasing health problem. According to our findings, a special attention should be paid on the economic improvement in the region.

關鍵字

糧食危機 ； 盛行率 ； 影響因子 ； 控制因子 ； 流行病學

並列摘要

Food insecurity is frequent in both developed and developing countries, affecting from 5% to 25% of the general population. The aim of this study was to assess food insecurity, its influencing factors and control measures in the northwest of Iran. A total population of 15,070 (2,911 households) were studied. A short questionnaire was used for the screening of food insecurity and energy intake in this study. After the screening programme, those families identified as having food insecurity were recruited for the second part of the study which was a community trial. We organized small training campaigns (through peer education) for target households. Six months later, the same techniques were applied again to assess the impact of educational intervention in reducing the rate of food insecurity. Total prevalence of food insecurity in the study population was 59.3 percent (95% confidence interval: 57.4-61.3). Logistic regression showed that apart from the mother’s age and smoking status of the head of the family, there was a significant association between household food insecurity and other variables in the model (mainly economic factors). The prevalence of food insecurity reduced by 7.3 percent after the intervention (p＞0.10). The high prevalence of food insecurity in this study indicates that there is an urgent need for a close collaboration between governmental, international and local leadership to identify and implement the key interventional programmes to overcome this ever increasing health problem. According to our findings, a special attention should be paid on the economic improvement in the region.

並列關鍵字

food insecurity ； prevalence ； causes ； control ； epidemiology