Assessment of the knowledge and attitude of infants’ mothers from Bushehr (Iran) on food security using anthropometric indicators in 2016: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundAmong the main elements of food security, in terms of food usage, are knowledge and attitude. These are particularly important during the initial two years of a child’s life. The present study was conducted in 2016 and aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of infants’ mothers from Bushehr (Iran) towards food security using anthropometric indicators.MethodsThe present cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was performed on 400 mothers of children aged 1-2 years in Bushehr, Iran. Data were collected using a 20-item knowledge questionnaire (CVR = 0.95, CVI = 0.95, and reliability 0.7), a 26-item attitude questionnaire (CVI = 0.94, CVR = 0.91, and reliability 0.76), and a 16-item Radimer/Cornell questionnaire, which were completed by all mothers. Anthropometric indicators of children, including height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height were also measured in accordance with the z-score benchmark of the World Health Organization.ResultsA positive and significant relationship was found between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.26, P = 0.0001) as well as between knowledge and household food security (r = 0.11, P = 0.02) in complementary feeding. Approximately 26% of the studied children fell under the risk category of overweight to obese. A significant relationship was found between inadequate knowledge of the mothers and height-for-age (OR = 4.87, P = 0.001) and weight-for-height (OR = 2.33, P = 0.04) indices, as well as between the negative attitude of the mothers and weight-for-height index (OR = 2.91, P = 0.03).ConclusionsThe knowledge of food security purely relates to the dimension of the household food security of a family and not to the individual/child level of food security. It seems that the knowledge of a mother, as a positive factor, does not support child’s food security when the severity of household insecurity triggers the child’s hunger and food inaccessibility. Also, inappropriate knowledge and negative attitude towards food security were associated with an increased risk of obesity. Increased weight, in addition to being affected by the knowledge and attitude of the mothers, is probably also influenced by the incorrect conduct of the mothers. Further investigation on this topic is recommended.

The effects of COVID-19 policies on livelihoods and food security of smallholder farm households in Nigeria: Descriptive results from a phone survey

“…Moreover, it is interesting to note that more than half of the study population (55 percent) had attained above secondary education. Studies (Mutisya et al, 2016;Yeganeh et al, 2018;Ogunniyi et al, 2020) have consistently portrayed education as a dimension of human capital, which can help in the process of making adequate and informed decisions that perhaps can limit or reduce the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on households. Results show that sample households have an average of seven members sharing a common meal with at least two members under five years of age.…”

Impacts of Caregivers’ Nutrition Knowledge and Food Market Accessibility on Preschool Children’s Dietary Diversity in Remote Communities in Southeast Nigeria

“…This method is popular in the literature and many scholars have applied this approach in assessing knowledge of mothers on appropriate feeding practices [56][57][58][59][60][61].…”

The relationship between food insecurity and risk of overweight or obesity in under 18 years individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria to be included in the meta-analysis. [ 20 21 22 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 ] In these 32 articles, 26 used a cross-sectional setting,[ 20 21 22 27 29 30 31 32 33 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 ] whereas the other 6 were longitudinal studies. [ 25 26 28 34 37 49 ] The OR of 139.762 participants was analyzed among these articles for the present study.…”

“…[ 25 26 28 34 37 49 ] The OR of 139.762 participants was analyzed among these articles for the present study. These articles were published during 2001 and 2019, and performed in the Canada,[ 22 25 27 ] United States,[ 20 21 26 28 29 30 32 34 36 37 38 39 40 42 49 50 52 55 56 57 58 ] Jamaica[ 27 ] Brazil,[ 41 48 ] Mexico,[ 26 31 51 ] Colombia,[ 35 ] Iran[ 43 54 ] and Taiwan. [ 53 ] Table 1 showed the feature of the articles included.…”

“…The studies included assess weight status by CDC growth charts,[ 20 21 25 26 28 29 30 32 34 36 37 38 39 40 42 49 50 52 55 56 57 58 ] WHO growth standards,[ 31 41 43 48 51 54 59 ] Cole growth reference[ 22 27 35 ] or local criteria. [ 53 ] The articles included for evaluation of FI were USDA,[ 26 27 34 35 36 40 53 56 57 58 ] CFSM,[ 37 38 49 ] HHFSM,[ 20 21 28 29 30 42 50 52 55 ] HFIAS, Radimer/Cornell,[ 25 43 54 ] ELCSA,[ 31 51 ] EBIA[ 41 48 ] and valid local survey forms. [ 22 32 39 ] The quality evaluation of each included articles indicated that all articles were of appropriate quality [ Supplementarys Table 1 and 2 ].…”