Relationship Between Household Food Insecurity and Growth Disorders in Children Aged 3 to 6 in Qazvin City, Iran.

PURPOSE: Food insecurity, which is the inability to obtain food or inadequate food consumption in terms of quality and quantity, has physical and psychological consequences on children's health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between children's growth disorders and food insecurity in Qazvin city, Iran. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on 177 cases and 355 controls of children aged 3 to 6 years, who were referred to health centers in Qazvin city. The case group consisted of children with growth disorders. Data were obtained with the 18-item US Department of Agriculture questionnaire, a household socioeconomic questionnaire, a and growth monitoring card. The data were analyzed with using IBM SPSS Version 22.0, by independent sample t-test, chi-square test, and logistic regression. RESULTS: A significant relationship was found between children's growth disorders and household food insecurity with (p<0.05, odds ratio [OR]=17.0, confidence interval [CI]=5.9, 48.8) and without hunger (p<0.05, OR=2.69, CI=1.4, 4.9). There were also significant relationships between children's growth disorders and socioeconomic status (p<0.05, OR=3.4, CI=1.4, 8.5), the duration of breastfeeding (p<0.05, OR=0.94, CI=0.9, 0.98), and children's ages (p<0.05, OR=0.94, CI=0.92, 0.96). Sex and birth order, and the age of the parents was not found to be significantly related with growth disorders. CONCLUSION: Lower socioeconomic status and household food insecurity were the important predictors of children's growth disorders. Policymakers should focus more on promoting steady employment and income among family members. Nutritional education for mothers is also recommended, in order to better meet the nutritional needs of the children.

Association of Infant Exclusive Breast Feeding with Household Food Security and Maternal Mental Health.

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most desirable way of infant feeding in the first 6 months. EBF has beneficial health effects on mothers and infants. The aim of this study was to examine factors influencing EBF, with emphasis on household food security status and maternal mental health. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 325 women referring to community health centers in west Tehran. Data were collected using questionnaires, including Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) 18-item questionnaire. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and analytical methods such as the chi-squared test, t test and logistic regression with SPSS 22. RESULTS: The prevalence of EBF was 82.5% (CI = 0.70, 0.94), 63.9% (CI = 0.57, 0.70) and 72.3% (CI = 0.62, 0.82) in 3-month, 3-6-month and 6-8-month-old infants, respectively. The results of this study showed a significant association between EBF and infant gender satisfaction (P < 0.001, OR = 4.85, CI = 2.12, 11.12), economic satisfaction score (P = 0.028, OR = 0.82, CI = 0.69, 0.98), infant birth weight (P = 0.013, OR = 0.99, CI = 0.99, 1.00) and unwanted pregnancy (P = 0.098, OR = 1.82, CI = 0.89, 3.70). However, we did not find any significant association between EBF and other variables such as household food security status, mother's postpartum depression, parents' education and age, type of delivery and pregnancy numbers. CONCLUSION: Infant gender satisfaction, economic satisfaction, unwanted pregnancy and infant birth weight were the significant factors for predicting EBF in this study. Since EBF is important for infants and mothers' health, policy-makers should devise strategies to promote and encourage EBF in the society.