Nutritional outcomes related to household food insecurity among mothers in rural Malaysia

During the past two decades,the rates of food insecurity and obesity have risen. although a relationship between these two seemingly-paradoxical states has not been repeatedly seen in men,research suggests that a correlation between them exists in women. this study examines nutritional outcomes of household food insecurity among mothers in rural malaysia. a cross-sectional survey of low-income households was conducted,and 223 households with mothers aged 18-55 years,who were non-lactating,non-pregnant,and had at least one child aged 2-12 years,were purposively selected. a questionnaire was administered that included the radimer/cornell scale,items about sociodemographic characteristics,and anthropometric measurements. of the households,16.1% were food-secure whereas 83.9% experienced some kind of food insecurity: 29.6% of households were food-insecure,19.3% contained individuals who were foodinsecure,and 35.0% fell into the 'child hunger' category. the result reported that household-size,total monthly income,income per capita,and food expenditure were significant risk factors of household food insecurity. although there was a high prevalence of overweight and obese mothers (52%) and 47.1% had at-risk waist-circumference (=80 cm),no significant association was found between food insecurity,body mass index,and waist-circumference. in conclusion,the rates of household food insecurity and overweight and obesity were high in the study population,although they are looking paradoxical. longitudinal studies with larger sample-sizes are recommended to further examine the relationship between food insecurity and obesity. © international centre for diarrhoeal disease research,bangladesh.