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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Household food insecurity is associated with abdominal but not general obesity among Iranian children

Authors: Fateme Jafari, Simin Ehsani, Azadeh Nadjarzadeh, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh, Mahmood Noori-Shadkam, Amin Salehi-Abargouei

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Childhood obesity is increasing all over the world. Food insecurity is mentioned as a possible risk factor; however, previous studies have led to inconsistent results in different societies while data are lacking for the Middle East. We aimed to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and general or abdominal obesity in Iranian children in a cross-sectional study.

Methods

Anthropometric data including height, weight, and waist circumference were measured by trained nutritionists. General and abdominal obesity were defined based on world health organization (WHO) and Iranian reference curves for age and gender, respectively. Radimer/Cornell food security questionnaire was filled by parents. Data about the physical activity of participants, family socio-economic status, parental obesity and data about perinatal period were also gathered using self-administered questionnaires. Logistic regression was incorporated to investigate the association between food insecurity and obesity in crude and multi-variable adjusted models.

Results

A total of 587 children aged 9.30 ± 1.49 years had complete data for analysis. Food insecurity at household level was significantly associated with abdominal obesity (odds ratio (OR) = 1.54; confidence interval (CI):1.01–2.34, p <0.05) and the relationship remained significant after adjusting for all potential confounding variables (OR = 2.02; CI:1.01–4.03, p <0.05). Food insecurity was associated with general obesity neither in crude analysis and multi-variable adjusted models.

Conclusions

The slight levels of food insecurity might increase the likelihood of abdominal obesity in Iranian children and macroeconomic policies to improve the food security are necessary. Large-scale prospective studies, particularly in the Middle East, are highly recommended to confirm our results.
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Metadata
Title
Household food insecurity is associated with abdominal but not general obesity among Iranian children
Authors
Fateme Jafari
Simin Ehsani
Azadeh Nadjarzadeh
Ahmad Esmaillzadeh
Mahmood Noori-Shadkam
Amin Salehi-Abargouei
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4262-3

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