Predictors of household food insecurity among pregnant women: a cross sectional study using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)

Abstract

Objective: Pregnant women is prone to experience food insecurity which could jeopardize the pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight and birth defects. However, it was rarely studied among pregnant women. This study aimed to examine the predictors of household food insecurity among pregnant women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 120 pregnant women in 3rd trimester which were recruited from local health centre. The study was conducted from July to November 2024. Food security was measured using standardized questionnaires called Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Structured questionnaire was used to gather demographic, economic and characteristic data. Pearson correlation was employed to analyse the correlation between several variables with food security, while multivariable linear regression was performed to assess the predictors of household food insecurity among pregnant women after considering the collinearity and residual to fit the model. Results: The study found that 20% of pregnant women experienced food insecurity, with 16.7% of them were mild food insecure. The variables that were found to be significant correlated were women’s dietary diversity (B: -0.298, P-value: 0.008), maternal education (B: -0.222; P-value: 0.019), BMI pre-pregnancy (B:0.107; P-value: 0.020) and recipient of cash transfer program (B: 0.368; P-value: 0.002). The R2 of the analysis was 0.417. Conclusion: Social economic was shown to be a significant predictors of household food insecurity among pregnant women. Thus, immediate actions are required to prevent the complications occurred on pregnancy outcomes.