Food insecurity situation in Malaysia: findings from Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 2014

Ahmad, Muhamad Hasnan and Selamat, Rusidah and Salleh, Ruhaya and Abdul Majid, Nur Liyana and Zainuddin, Ahmad Ali and Mohd Abu Bakar, Wan Azdie and Aris, Tahir (2020) Food insecurity situation in Malaysia: findings from Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 2014. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 20 (1). pp. 167-174. ISSN 1675-0306 E-ISSN 2590-3829

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Abstract

Food insecurity affects food intake, and it could prevent an individual from consuming enough nutritious food to support and maintain health. The aim of this paper is to determine the prevalence and factors influencing food insecurity among Malaysian households. In 2014, the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) was carried out, and one of the components measured was food insecurity. Six out of sixteen questions from the food security core-module questionnaire were adopted and answered by 2962 adults. The results showed that about 25.0% adult experienced food quantity insufficiency, 25.5% had food variety insufficiency, 21.9% practised reduced size of the meal, and 15.2% skipped main meal due to lack of money to spend on. For the parents, 23.7% only rely on cheap food to feed children, and 20.8% could not afford to purchase various foods to feed their children. Location, strata, race, level of education, working status and household income shows significant difference while none of the nutritional status components found to be difference in all six parameters of food insecurity measured. Logistic regression with adjusted odds ratios discovered race, education level and household income were related to risk to all six parameters of food insecurity. In conclusion, food insecurity can be a serious problem in Malaysia. An effective and comprehensive effort by the government in terms of policy solution is required to increase education level and ensure an adequate income for every household. Therefore, future research should focus on some of those promising policy solutions and at the same time, study the other possible underlying factors that may lead to food insecurity.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	4609/80753
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Food Insecurity, Malaysia, Adult, Nutrition Survey
Subjects:	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 Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences > Department of Nutrition Sciences
Depositing User:	Dr. Wan Azdie Mohd Abu Bakar
Date Deposited:	16 Jun 2020 15:04
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2020 15:55
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/80753

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