Food security and BMI status among adolescents in Kuantan, Pahang

Mohd Abu Bakar, Wan Azdie and Yahya, Noor Atirah and Sidek, Suriati and Ab Ghalib, Halimatun Saadiah and Mat Ya, Roselawati and Abdul Rahman, Rozlin (2019) Food security and BMI status among adolescents in Kuantan, Pahang. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 75 (Suppl. 3). pp. 369-370. ISSN 0250-6807 E-ISSN 1421-9697

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Abstract

Background/Aims: Food security can be defined as the availability of and accessibility to food, acquired in an acceptable means at any given time and place in a way that could maintain health and wellbeing. This study aimed to identify the food security status and the nutritional status of adolescents and to determine the associated factors. Methods: Five hundred and thirty secondary school students from district of Kuantan, Malaysia were measured for their weights and heights. A set of questionnaire containing two sections was used to obtain the sociodemographic data and food security information. The Radimer/Cornell Instrument (Malay version) was used to capture the severity of food insecurity. Results: The findings demonstrated that 23.4% of the respondents were food secure and 76.6% were food insecure, which were categorized into household food insecurity (31.5%), individual food insecurity (7.6%) and child hunger (37.5%). Furthermore, 60% have normal BMI-for-age, 9.2% were underweight, while 16.6% and 14.2% were overweight and obese. The prevalence of stunting was 11.7% while others were categorized as normal in terms of height-for-age z-score. Respondents with working mothers were found to be less likely to experience food insecurity compared to those with mothers who were not working (AOR 0.59; 95% CI: 0.34–0.97; p = 0.037). Conclusion: The high prevalence of food insecurity and increasing overweight and obesity incidents are a concern within this area. While food security element should be included in any intervention program addressing overweight and obesity, further research is needed to study the complex relationship between socio-demographic factors, food security and nutritional status.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	4609/74003
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Food security, Obesity, Adolescents
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine T Technology > TX Home economics > TX341 Nutrition. Foods and food supply
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences
Depositing User:	Dr. Wan Azdie Mohd Abu Bakar
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2019 15:41
Last Modified:	17 Jan 2024 16:29
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/74003

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