Food insecurity and nutritional status of individuals in a socially vulnerable situation in Brazil

Godoy, Kátia; Sávio, Karin Eleonora de Oliveira; Akutsu, Rita de Cássia; Gubert, Muriel Bauermann; Botelho, Raquel Braz Assunção

doi:10.1590/1413-81232017222.17132016

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ARTICLE • Ciênc. saúde colet. 22 (2) • Feb 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232017222.17132016 copy

Food insecurity and nutritional status of individuals in a socially vulnerable situation in Brazil

Insegurança Alimentar e estado nutricional entre indivíduos em situação de vulnerabilidade social no Brasil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The objective was to investigate the association between food insecurity (FI) and anthropometric indicators among beneficiaries of a Brazilian social program called Community Canteens (CCs). This was a cross-sectional study. The associations were analyzed by chi-square test and Poisson regression. The subjects were 1,232 patrons of Brazil’s CCs. Men with severe FI had a lower mean BMI (-1.53 kg/m2) and a lower body fat percentage (-3.83 percentage points). Men that had a fat percentage classified as “risk of diseases associated with malnutrition” had a 2.34 times greater chance of experiencing severe FI, as did those who had low weight (PR: 2.64). However, these results were no longer significant after Poisson regression. With respect to women, there were no significant associations between the variables studied and FI. The high prevalence of overweight and body fat in the population at all of the FI levels and for both sexes are an indication of the complexity of the Brazilian scenario regarding the aspect of nutrition and excess weight in poor communities.

Food insecurity; Nutritional status; Social vulnerability

	Men (709)								P^a

	Food Security		Food Insecurity

			Mild		Moderate		Severe

	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Total	421	59.4	126	17.8	94	13.3	68	9.6
Age group									0.137
31-59 years	282	58.0	82	16.9	68	14.0	54	11.1
18-30 years	139	62.3	44	19.7	26	11.7	14	6.3
Marital status									0.166
With partner	186	60.6	59	19.2	41	13.4	21	6.8
Single/widow/divorced	234	58.4	67	16.7	53	13.2	47	11.7
Educational level									< 0.001
Less than 8 years of education	167	49.0	68	19.9	54	15.8	52	15.2
8 years of education or more	254	69.0	58	15.8	40	10.9	16	4.3
Per capita income									< 0.001
Extreme poverty (up to ¼ MW)	34	35.8	22	23.2	18	18.9	21	22.1
Poverty ( ¼ to ½ MW)	66	45.2	32	21.9	29	19.9	19	13.0
Above ½ MW	321	68.6	72	15.4	47	10.0	28	6.0
Region in Brazil									0.098
North/Northeast	164	54.8	54	18.1	49	16.4	32	10.7
Centre-South	257	62.7	72	17.6	45	11.0	36	8.8

	Women (523)								p

	Food Security		Food Insecurity

			Mild		Moderate		Severe

	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%

Total	294	56.2	115	22.0	76	14.5	38	7.3
Age group									0.542
31-59 years	187	55.5	76	22.6		13.6	28	8.3
18-30 years	107	57.5	39	21.0		16.1	10	5.4
Marital status									0.678
With partner	117	53.7	53	24.3		15.1	15	6.9
Single/widow/divorced	177	58.0	62	20.3		14.1	23	7.5
Educational level									< 0.001
Less than 8 years of education	93	43.7	48	22.5		19.7	30	14.1
8 years of education or more	201	64.8	67	21.6		11.0	8	2.6
Per capita income									< 0.001
Extreme poverty (up to ¼ MW)	35	38.5	25	27.5		15.4	17	18.7
Poverty ( ¼ to ½ MW)	61	45.2	34	25.2		19.3	14	10.4
Above ½ MW	198	66.7	56	18.9		12.1	7	2.4
Region in Brazil									0.004
North/Northeast	120	48.8	57	23.2		19.1	22	8.9
Centre-South	174	62.8	58	20.9		10.5	16	5.8

	Food Insecurity

	Food Security^a		Mild		Moderate		Severe

Measurement	Mean	SD ^b	Mean	SD ^b	Mean	SD ^b	Mean	SD ^b
Men (709)	n = 421		n = 126		n = 94		n = 68
Weight (kg)	75.0	13.7	73.6	14.3	72.2	11.5	68.0*	13.6
BMI (kg/m²)	25.5	4.6	25.6	4.5	25.3	3.8	23.9*	7.6
Fat (%)	17.7	6.6	16.9	6.4	17.7	6.9	13.8*	7.6
Women (523)	n = 294		n = 115		n = 76		n = 38
Weight (kg)	65.7	14.3	65.1	13.4	64.13	13.1	62.8	13.9
BMI (kg/m²)	26.0	5.8	26.3	5.0	26.13	5.4	25.7	5.9
Fat (%)	31.0	8.2	32.4	9.1	31.43	8.3	30.0	9.4

	Severe Food Insecurity

	Men (68)

	n (%)	PR^f (CI)	p	Adjusted PR (CI) ^g	p
Fat percentage
Risk of diseases and disorders associated with malnutrition^a	10 (14.7)	2.34 (1.32-4.14)	0.007	1.18 (0.82-1.71)	0.362
Below average Mean^b	31 (45.6)	1	-	1	-
Above average^c	23 (33.8)	0.62 (0.37-1.01)	0.054	0.94 (0.77-1.14)	0.514
Risk of diseases associated with obesity^d	4 (5.9)	0.28 (0.10-0.76)	0.005	0.89 (0.69-1.14)	0.351
BMI
Underweight	7 (10.3)	2.64 (1.32-4.14)	0.007	1.2 (0.79-1.83)	0.390
Normal weight range	36 (52.9)	1	-	1
Excess weight^e	25 (36.8)	0.67 (0.42-1.08)	0.095	0.95 (0.80-1.13)	0.537

	Women (38)

	n (%)	PR ^f (CI)	p	Adjusted PR (CI) ^g	p

Fat percentage
Risk of diseases and disorders associated with malnutrition^a	-	-	-	-	-
Below average + Mean^b	7 (19.0)	1	-	1	-
Above average^c	15 (40.5)	1.22 (0.52-2.84)	0.644	1.0 (0.75-1.35)	0.985
Risk of diseases associated with obesity^d	15 (40.5)	0.95 (0.41-2.22)	0.904	0.97 (0.72-1.31)	0.842
BMI
Underweight	2 (5.3)	1.09 (0.28-4.29)	0.904	1.0 (0.61-1.64)	0.987
Normal weight range	17 (44.7)	1	-
Excess weight^e	19 (50.0)	0.99 (0.53-1.82)	0.961	0.99 (0.79-1.23)	0.893

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[1] Collaborations

K Godoy worked in data collection and analysis. KEO Sávio and RBA Botelho worded in study design and analysis. RC Akutsu and MB Gubert worked in study design and statistical analysis.