Association of Food Insecurity with Overweight and Obesity in Adolescent Female Students (12-15 Years Old) in Urmia

Obesity is prevalent in the Middle East and its resulted handicaps are the main nutritional and health issues. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between insecurity with body mass index in Urmia.

In this study, 453 female students were selected by multi-stage sampling. Anthropometric indices including height, weight and waist circumference were measured using standard methods and calibrated instruments. Food insecurity was determined using a Radiometer/ Cornell questionnaire.

Regarding food security, there was no significant difference between obese and normal weight subjects. Food security (P = 0.04) were directly related to underweight. In the multiple logistic regression model food insecurity had inverse association with it (OR = 0.642, 85% CI (0.48 – 0.68), P = 0.033).

The results of this study show that food security was associated with an increased risk of underweight.