Food insecurity in pregnancy and intergenerational educational mobility

Abstract

Food insecurity (FI) results from social deprivation and has consequences across generations. This study aims to evaluate the association between FI and intergenerational educational mobility of pregnant women. This cross-sectional study combines the educational level of women undergoing prenatal care in public primary health care facilities and that of their parents to investigate intergenerational educational mobility. Poisson’s regression models with robust variance were performed to investigate the relation of FI and intergenerational educational mobility. In total, 602 pregnant women were evaluated. Pregnant women categorized in stable-low education mobility (PR 1.63 95%CI 1.03-2.56), and those who could not inform their fathers’ educational levels (PR 1.66 95%CI 1.08-2.56) were more likely to live in households with FI. Women classified in stable-low (PR 1.70 95%CI 1.13-2.52), or downward educational attainment than their mothers presented higher prevalence of FI (PR 1.72 95%CI 1.12-2.63) compared to those with stable-high intergenerational education mobility. Pregnant women’s education is determinant for breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and hunger.