Prevalência e fatores associados à (in)segurança alimentar e nutricional em famílias dos municípios do norte de Alagoas

Abstract

The Food and Nutrition Insecurity (“INSAN”) is a complex problem that involves psychological aspects (like the fear of shortage food at home), the use of strategies aimed at not compromising on the amount of food (often sacrificing the quality of meals ) to the actual experience of going hungry. “INSAN” is a condition that violates the rights of human beings, in particular the right of adequate food and is associated with a poor quality of life, predisposing individuals and their families to a range of nutritional disorders. This dissertation proposes to address the issue of “INSAN” through a literature review and presentation of an original article, which aimed to identify the prevalence and associated factors with food and nutrition insecurity in families residing in the cities of northern Alagoas. It is a cross-sectional study involving a random sample of 1,444 families. The status of Food and Nutrition Insecurity was preceded by the application of the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar - EBIA). According to EBIA, 63.7% (n = 919) were in families “INSAN”, and struck a severe form 205 families (14.2%), moderate 336 families (23.3%) and take 378 families (26.2%). The “INSAN” in the studied families surpassed the average observed in 2009 for the country (30.2%) for the Northeast region (46.1%) and the state of Alagoas (37.1%).The variables that were independently associated with “INSAN” had (multiple logistic regression) were: the fact that the head of the family had schooling equal to or less than four years of study (p <0.0001), being female (p = 0.029), be enrolled in programs of income transfers (p = 0.008) as well as having more members at home (p = 0.045) and poor condition of drinking water (p <0.0001).Therefore, considering that be in food and nutrition security is a human right, it confirms the need for governments to prioritize policies and actions that change those variables in a favorable way to reduce the high prevalence of “INSAN” found and thus improve the quality life of this population.