Food Security and Its Related Factors in Pregnant Women Referred to Health Centers in Yazd, Iran

Objective :

Lack of access to adequate food during pregnancy can have adverse effects on the mother and the fetus. This study aims to investigate food insecurity and its related sociodemographic factors in pregnant women referred to health centers in Yazd, Iran.

Methods :

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted on 240 pregnant women referred to health centers in Yazd in 2020. The sampling was done using a stratified two-stage cluster sampling method. Data was collected using a questionnaire with four sections: Socio-demographic information, pregnancy-related information, infant-related information, and the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS). Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 20. The significance level was set at 0.05. 

Results:

 In this study, 167 women (69.6%) had food security, 59 (24.6%) had mild food insecurity and 14 (5.8%) had moderate-to-severe food insecurity. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of food insecurity in housewives was 3.93 times more than in employed women (OR=3.93, P=0.013); in women with more than two children was 4.5 times more than in women with fewer children (OR=4.05, P<0.001); in women with less lower than a high school education was 2.36 times more than in women with university education (OR= 2.36, P=0.013); in pregnant <20 years old was 1.69 times more than in women >20 years old (OR=1.69, P=0.18); and in women with unplanned pregnancy was 2.54 times more than in women with planned pregnancy (OR=2.54, P=0.03).

Conclusion :

Most of the pregnant women in Yazd have food security. Their food security is affected by different factors, such as occupation, educational level, number of children, and pregnancy planning.