Article Text
Abstract
Introduction In Brazil, 37.7% of all households are food insecure (FI). The prevalence is high not only in North-46.4% and Northeast-53.6% regions, but also in the South-23.5% and Southeast-27.1%.
Objectives Describe socioeconomic characteristics of FI and investigate the association of FI with dietary patterns.
Methods Longitudinal study was carried out with 1482 pregnant in two cities of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Women were interviewed during the first trimester of pregnancy where FI was assessed and at postpartum when a frequent food questionnaire was applied. Principal components analysis was used to identify dietary patterns. Multiple logistic regression was performed to study the association of socioeconomic characteristics and FI and multiple linear regression to study the association of FI and dietary patterns.
Results Lower socioeconomic status, lower per capita income and presence of <20 years old in the household were associated with FI. Of the four dietary patterns identified, “prudent” (dairies, cracker, fruits and meat), “traditional” (rice, beans, vegetables, bread, butter and sugar), “snack” (salty snacks, sandwich cookies and chocolate) and “western” (fast food, processed meat, eggs, sweet-drinks), FI was associated positively with “snack” and negatively with “prudent” and “traditional”. After controlling for potential confounders, FI remained associated positively with “snack” pattern and negatively with “prudent” pattern.
Conclusion In pregnant women, FI play an important role on the food choices. Identifying high risk groups might be useful to trace public health policies concerning nutritional education and supplementation.