Mamo Daniel Niguse, Worku Kassahun Misgana, Adem Yonas Fissha, Shibabaw Adamu Ambachew, Habte Aklilu, Haile Yosef
Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Science, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
Front Nutr. 2024 Apr 5;11:1363434. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1363434. eCollection 2024.
Food insecurity has remained a serious public health problem in developing countries, such as Ethiopia, over the past two decades. Vulnerable populations, such as pensioners, have been affected by this problem because of emerging socio-demographic changes, a global financial crisis, and climate change, all of which have contributed to the high food prices. Hence, this study aimed to assess household food security status and associated factors among pensioners in Arba Minch town, South Ethiopia.
A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from September to October 2023. Two hundred forty-four pensioners were chosen using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected, cleaned, and entered into EPI-Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Variables with a -value of ≤0.25 in the bivariate analyses were candidates for the multivariable regression analysis. In the multivariable logistic regression, variables with a -value of 0.05 were considered to have a significant association with the dependent variable.
A total of 238 retired people were interviewed, with a response rate of 97.5%. Among the interviewed pensioners, 223 (91.4%) households were food insecure. Having more than one dependent member [AOR = 2.4, 95% C.I: 1.30, 6.64], being jobless after retirement [AOR = 3, 95% C.I:1.17, 5.61], and being in the lowest tertile of wealth status [AOR = 2, 95% C.I:1.36, 4.99] were identified as predictors of food insecurity.
The magnitude of household food insecurity was higher compared to the national average, and factors such as the current occupational status of the household head, dependency ratio, and wealth status of the household were significantly associated with household food insecurity. Therefore, policymakers and programmers should provide new strategies focusing on additional income-generating activities and salary increments and consider free services such as school fees and healthcare.
在过去二十年里，粮食不安全在诸如埃塞俄比亚等发展中国家仍然是一个严重的公共卫生问题。诸如养老金领取者等弱势群体受到了这一问题的影响，原因包括新出现的社会人口结构变化、全球金融危机和气候变化，所有这些因素都导致了食品价格居高不下。因此，本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚南部阿尔巴明奇镇养老金领取者的家庭粮食安全状况及相关因素。
于2023年9月至10月开展了一项基于社区的横断面研究设计。采用简单随机抽样技术选取了244名养老金领取者。收集、清理数据并录入EPI-Data 4.6版本，然后导出到SPSS 25版本进行分析。在双变量分析中P值≤0.25的变量是多变量回归分析的候选变量。在多变量逻辑回归中，P值≤0.05的变量被认为与因变量有显著关联。
共采访了238名退休人员，应答率为97.5%。在接受采访的养老金领取者中，223户（91.4%）家庭粮食不安全。有不止一名受抚养成员[调整后比值比（AOR）=2.4，95%置信区间（C.I）：1.30，6.64]、退休后无工作[AOR = 3，95% C.I：1.17，5.61]以及处于财富状况最低三分位数[AOR = 2，95% C.I：1.36，4.99]被确定为粮食不安全的预测因素。
家庭粮食不安全的程度高于全国平均水平，户主当前的职业状况、抚养比和家庭财富状况等因素与家庭粮食不安全显著相关。因此，政策制定者和规划者应提供侧重于额外创收活动和薪资增加的新策略，并考虑诸如学费和医疗保健等免费服务。
