Relationship between food insecurity and nutritional status of
          Brazilian children under the age of five

Santos, Leonardo Pozza dos; Gigante, Denise Petrucci

doi:10.1590/S1415-790X2013000400018

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Original Articles • Rev. bras. epidemiol. 16 (04) • Dec 2013 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-790X2013000400018 copy

Relationship between food insecurity and nutritional status of Brazilian children under the age of five

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and nutritional status of Brazilian children.

METHODS:

The National Demographic and Health Survey 2006 database is available on the worldwide web. Thus, the analyzed variables were obtained in this study, including nutritional indices, food insecurity and other socioeconomic and demographic variables. The height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height indices were evaluated as the Z-score of the World Health Organization reference curves. Food insecurity was defined by using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Averages of three indices according to the presence of food insecurity were analyzed, including other variables. Linear regression evaluated the effect of food insecurity on the Z-score of the three nutritional indices.

RESULTS:

The sample included 4,817 children, out of whom 7% had deficit in height, 7% were overweight and 47% had food insecurity. It was found that the average of height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height were -0.31, 0.12 and 0.40, respectively, being lower among children with food insecurity.

CONCLUSION:

The regression analysis showed that children living with some level of food insecurity have worse rates of height-for-age, even controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Food and Nutritional security; Child development; Nutritional transition; Body height; Anthropometry.

Variables	Height-for-age				Weight-for-age			Weight-for-height
Variables	n	Mean	95%CI	p-value	Mean	95%CI	p-value	Mean	95%CI	p-value
Macroregion				< 0. 001			< 0. 001			0. 001
North	988	-0. 76	-0. 89 to -0. 64		-0. 19	-0. 31 to -0. 07		0. 35	0. 27 to 0. 42
Northeast	882	-0. 37	-0. 55 to -0. 18		0. 02	-0. 10 to 0. 15		0. 28	0. 18 to 0. 38
Southeast	893	-0. 21	-0. 35 to -0. 08		0. 21	0. 12 to 0. 30		0. 45	0. 34 to 0. 57
South	835	-0. 22	-0. 35 to -0. 09		0. 23	0. 11 to 0. 34		0. 50	0. 38 to 0. 62
Center-west	898	-0. 19	-0. 30 to -0. 08		0. 21	0. 12 to 0. 30		0. 45	0. 35 to 0. 54
Household situation				0. 3			0. 06			0. 08
Urban	2.944	-0. 29	-0. 37 to -0. 21		0. 15	0. 09 to 0. 21		0. 42	0. 35 to 0. 49
Rural	1.552	-0. 42	-0. 66 to -0. 19		-0. 01	-0. 15 to 0. 14		0. 31	0. 21 to 0. 41
Receive bolsa família				0. 004			< 0. 001			< 0. 001
Yes	1.334	-0. 50	-0. 66 to -0. 35		-0. 15	-0. 27 to -0. 04		0. 18	0. 06 to 0. 30
No	3.159	-0. 25	-0. 34 to -0. 17		0. 21	0. 15 to 0. 27		0. 47	0. 41 to 0. 54
People in the household				0. 006			< 0. 001			0. 002
2 to 4	2.300	-0. 25	-0. 34 to -0. 15		0. 21	0. 14 to 0. 28		0. 47	0. 39 to 0. 54
5 or more	2.196	-0. 42	-0. 53 to -0. 32		-0. 03	-0. 11 to 0. 06		0. 29	0. 20 to 0. 38
Income quartiles				< 0. 001			< 0. 001			< 0. 001
1^st quartile (lower)	902	-0. 67	-0. 81 to -0. 53		-0. 24	-0. 37 to -0. 11		0. 19	0. 07 to 0. 30
2^nd quartile	943	-0. 36	-0. 57 to -0. 15		0. 07	-0. 06 to 0. 20		0. 34	0. 21 to 0. 48
3^rd quartile	848	-0. 16	-0. 27 to -0. 05		0. 32	0. 21 to 0. 44		0. 59	0. 46 to 0. 71
4^th quartile (higher)	999	-0. 11	-0. 27 to 0. 05		0. 31	0. 19 to 0. 43		0. 48	0. 36 to 0. 61
Age of the mother				0. 3			0. 13			0. 3
15 –19	386	-0. 51	-0. 74 to -0. 27		-0. 07	-0. 23 to 0. 09		0. 30	0. 09 to 0. 51
20 – 35	3.543	-0. 28	-0. 37 to -0. 19		0. 15	0. 08 to 0. 21		0. 41	0. 34 to 0. 47
36 – 49	567	-0. 34	-0. 54 to -0. 14		0. 12	-0. 02 to 0. 26		0. 44	0. 31 to 0. 57
Skin color of the mother				0. 5			0. 4			0. 7
White	1.499	-0. 24	-0. 35 to -0. 13		0. 17	0. 08 to 0. 29		0. 44	0. 34 to 0. 54
Black/Mulatto	2.711	-0. 33	-0. 44 to -0. 23		0. 08	0. 01 to 0. 15		0. 37	0. 29 to 0. 44
Others	234	-0. 48	-0.70 to -0.25		0. 23	0. 03 to 0. 42		0. 54	0. 36 to 0. 72
Gender				0. 05			0. 2			0. 9
Male	2.311	-0. 38	-0.47 to -0. 28		0. 09	0. 01 to 0. 16		0. 40	0. 33 to 0. 47
Female	2.185	-0. 24	-0. 35 to -0. 14		0. 15	0. 08 to 0. 23		0. 40	0. 31 to 0. 48
Child’s age				0. 002			0. 04			0. 2
0 – 12	993	0. 01	-0.15 to 0.17		0. 19	0. 07 to 0. 31		0. 27	0. 13 to 0. 40
13 – 24	896	-0. 40	-0. 60 to -0. 20		0. 11	-0. 01 to 0. 23		0. 39	0. 26 to 0. 52
25 – 36	901	-0. 50	-0.60 to -0.39		0. 14	0. 05 to 0. 23		0. 55	0.46 to 0. 64
37 – 48	885	-0. 40	-0.53 to -0.26		0. 12	0. 00 to 0. 23		0. 52	0.41 to 0.62
49 – 59	821	-0.34	-0.48 a -0.19		0.00	-0.11 to 0.12		0.28	0.17 to 0.40
Variables	Height-for-age				Weight-for-age			Weight-for-height
Variables	n	Mean	95%CI	p-value	Mean	95%I	p-value	Mean	95%CI	p-value
Food situation				< 0. 001			< 0. 001			0. 01
Food security	2.170	-0.17	-0.28 to -0.06		0. 21	0.14 to 0.29		0. 44	0.36 to 0.51
Mild FI	1.242	-0.36	-0.47 to -0.25		0. 12	0.02 to 0.22		0. 44	0.33 to 0.54
Moderate FI	604	-0.52	-0.69 to -0.35		-0. 08	-0.22 to 0.07		0. 30	0.14 to 0.46
Severe FI	480	-0.77	-0.97 to -0.57		-0. 23	-0.41 to -0.04		0. 17	0.00 to 0.34

Variables	Crude			Adjusted
Variables	ß	95%CI	p-value	ß	95%CI	p-value
Height-for-age
Food insecurity	-0.19	-0.25 to -0.13	< 0.001	-0.08*	-0.16 to -0.01	0.03
Weight-for-height
Food insecurity	-0.14	-0.19 to -0.09	< 0.001	-0.03**	-0.08 to 0.03	0.3
Weight-for-height
Food insecurity	-0.07	-013 to -0.02	0.01	-0.02**	-0.07 to 0.05	0.7

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[1] Corresponding author: Leonardo Pozza dos Santos Programa de Pós-graduação em Epidemiologia da Universidade Federal de Pelotas Rua Marechal Deodoro, 1160, 3° piso, CEP: 96020-220, Pelotas, RS, Brasil E-mail: leonardo_pozza@yahoo.com.br