COVID-19 Pandemic and Food Insecurity among Pregnant Women in an Important City of the Amazon Region: A Study of the Years 2021 and 2022

Abstract

Introduction: Food insecurity (FI) experienced during pregnancy represents a relevant public health problem, as it negatively affects maternal and child health. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of FI among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the period from 2021 to 2022, with a representative sample of 423 women resulting from a sample calculation based on the average (2912 births) that occurred in the years 2016 to 2020 in the only maternity hospital in the municipality. After analyzing the medical records, interviews were carried out with the postpartum women using a standardized questionnaire and the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to calculate prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals to measure associations. Results: FI was observed in 57.0% of cases and was associated with age under 20 years (PR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.29; 1.79), receipt of government assistance (PR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.10; 1.55), loss of family employment (PR = 1.40; 95% CI 1.20; 1.64), greater number of residents (PR = 1.17; 95% CI 1.00; 1.37), and prenatal care in a public institution (PR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.04; 2.26). Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of FI cases, associated with socioeconomic, demographic, and prenatal care characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic.