Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, University Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, 16150 Kelantan, Malaysia.
Program of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, University Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, 16150 Kelantan, Malaysia.
Nutr Res Pract. 2014 Jun;8(3):304-11. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2014.8.3.304. Epub 2014 May 15.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between household food insecurity and nutritional status of children in low-income households. A cross sectional study involved a survey of households (n = 223) receiving the financial assistance.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: Eligible mothers that fulfilled the inclusion criteria such as non-pregnant, non-lactating mothers, aged 18 to 55 years with their youngest children aged 2 to 12 years, were purposively selected. The Radimer/Cornell hunger and food-insecurity instrument was administered and children's height and weight were measured.
About 16.1% of the households were food secure, while 83.9% experienced some kind of food insecurity. Out of food insecure category, 29.6% households were food insecure, 19.3% women were individual food insecure and 35.0% fell into the child hunger category. Education of the mother (P = 0.047), household size (P = 0.024), number of children (P = 0.024), number of children going to school (P = 0.048), total monthly income (P < 0.001), income per capital (P < 0.001), number of household members contributing to the income (P = 0.018) and food expenditure (P = 0.006) were significant risk factors for household food insecurity. The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting in children were 61.0%, 61.4% and 30.6% respectively. Based on multinomial logistic regression, children in food-insecure households were 2.15 times more likely to be underweight and three times to be stunted than children in the food-secure households.
The findings suggest that household food insecurity is associated with the nutritional status of the children in the rural area of Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia.
背景/目的：本研究旨在探讨低收入家庭的粮食不安全状况与儿童营养状况之间的关系。采用横断面研究方法，对接受经济援助的家庭（n=223）进行了调查。
研究对象/方法：选择符合纳入标准的母亲，包括非孕妇、非哺乳期、年龄在 18 至 55 岁之间、最小的孩子年龄在 2 至 12 岁之间的母亲。采用 Radimer/Cornell 饥饿和食物不安全工具进行评估，并测量儿童的身高和体重。
约 16.1%的家庭食物充足，而 83.9%的家庭存在某种程度的食物不安全。在食物不安全类别中，29.6%的家庭食物不安全，19.3%的妇女个人食物不安全，35.0%的家庭儿童处于饥饿状态。母亲的教育程度（P=0.047）、家庭规模（P=0.024）、儿童数量（P=0.024）、上学儿童数量（P=0.048）、月总收入（P<0.001）、人均收入（P<0.001）、家庭收入来源人数（P=0.018）和食物支出（P=0.006）是家庭食物不安全的显著危险因素。儿童的消瘦、发育迟缓、消瘦的患病率分别为 61.0%、61.4%和 30.6%。基于多项逻辑回归分析，食物不安全家庭的儿童体重不足的可能性是食物安全家庭儿童的 2.15 倍，发育迟缓的可能性是食物安全家庭儿童的 3 倍。
研究结果表明，马来西亚半岛东北部农村地区的家庭粮食不安全状况与儿童的营养状况有关。
