Pei Chong Su, Appannah Geeta, Sulaiman Norhasmah
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400 Selangor, Malaysia.
Nutr Res Pract. 2018 Apr;12(2):135-142. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2018.12.2.135. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional study assessed household food security status and determined its association with diet quality and weight status among indigenous women from the Mah Meri tribe in Peninsular Malaysia.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: The Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity Instrument and the Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (HEI) were used to assess household food security status and diet quality, respectively. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and 24-hour dietary recall data were collected through face-to-face interview, and anthropometric measurements including weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were obtained from 222 women.
Majority of households (82.9%) experienced different levels of food insecurity: 29.3% household food insecurity, 23.4% individual food insecurity, and 30.2% fell into the child hunger group. The food-secure group had significantly fewer children and smaller household sizes than the food-insecure groups ( < 0.05). The mean household income, income per capita, and food expenditure significantly decreased as food insecurity worsened ( < 0.001). The food-secure group had significantly higher Malaysian HEI scores for grains and cereals ( < 0.01), as well as for meat, poultry, and eggs ( < 0.001), than the food-insecure groups. The child-hunger group had significantly higher fat ( < 0.05) and sodium ( < 0.001) scores than the food-secure and household food-insecure groups. Compared to the individual food-insecure and child-hunger groups, multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the food-secure group was significantly associated with a higher Malaysian HEI score while the household food-insecure group was significantly associated with a higher BMI after controlling for age ( < 0.025).
The majority of indigenous households faced food insecurity. Food insecurity at the individual and child levels was associated with lower quality of diet, while food insecurity at the household level was associated with higher body weight. Therefore, a substantial effort by all stakeholders is warranted to improve food insecurity among poorer households. The results suggest a pressing need for nutritional interventions to improve dietary intake among low income households.
背景/目的：这项横断面研究评估了马来西亚半岛麻美里部落原住民妇女的家庭粮食安全状况，并确定了其与饮食质量和体重状况的关联。
对象/方法：分别使用拉迪默/康奈尔饥饿与粮食不安全量表和马来西亚健康饮食指数（HEI）来评估家庭粮食安全状况和饮食质量。通过面对面访谈收集社会人口学特征信息和24小时饮食回忆数据，并从222名妇女中获取体重、身高和体重指数（BMI）等人体测量数据。
大多数家庭（82.9%）经历了不同程度的粮食不安全：29.3%的家庭粮食不安全，23.4%的个人粮食不安全，30.2%属于儿童饥饿组。粮食安全组的子女数量明显少于粮食不安全组，家庭规模也更小（<0.05）。随着粮食不安全程度加剧，家庭平均收入、人均收入和食品支出显著下降（<0.001）。粮食安全组在谷物和谷类（<0.01）以及肉类、家禽和蛋类（<0.001）方面的马来西亚HEI得分显著高于粮食不安全组。儿童饥饿组的脂肪（<0.05）和钠（<0.001）得分显著高于粮食安全组和家庭粮食不安全组。与个人粮食不安全组和儿童饥饿组相比，协方差多变量分析显示，在控制年龄后，粮食安全组与较高的马来西亚HEI得分显著相关，而家庭粮食不安全组与较高的BMI显著相关（<0.025）。
大多数原住民家庭面临粮食不安全问题。个人和儿童层面的粮食不安全与较低的饮食质量相关，而家庭层面的粮食不安全与较高的体重相关。因此，所有利益相关者都需要做出巨大努力来改善贫困家庭的粮食不安全状况。结果表明迫切需要进行营养干预，以改善低收入家庭的饮食摄入。
