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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1399185
This article is part of the Research Topic Diet and Training Strategies to Optimize Health Parameters View all 11 articles

Factors Associated with Food Insecurity among Pregnant Women in Gedeo Zone Public Hospitals, Southern Ethiopia

Provisionally accepted
Abriham Shiferaw S. Areba Abriham Shiferaw S. Areba 1,2,3*Denebo E. Akiso Denebo E. Akiso 3Arega Haile Arega Haile 4Belayneh G. Abire Belayneh G. Abire 4Girum Kanno Girum Kanno 5Lire Lemma Lire Lemma 3Desta E. Abame Desta E. Abame 3
  • 1 Wachemo University, Hosaena, Ethiopia
  • 2 Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wachemo University, Hossana, Ethiopia
  • 3 College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wachemo University, Hossana, Ethiopia
  • 4 Dilla University, Dilla, SNNPR, Ethiopia
  • 5 College of Health and Medical Science, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Food insecurity refers to a lack of consistent access to sufficient food for active, better health. Around two billion people worldwide suffer from food insecurity and hidden hunger.This study focuses on food insecurity and associated factors among pregnant women in Gedeo Zone Public Hospitals, Southern Ethiopia.Method: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women in Gedeo zone public hospitals from May to June 2021. Primary data of 506 pregnant women were collected using interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select study participants. The household food insecurity access scale of the questionnaire was used and a woman was considered as food insecure when it has any of the food insecurity conditions mild, moderate, or severe food insecure, otherwise, it was classified as food secure. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) determined the association between various factors and outcomes.Results: Of all study participants, 67.39% of the women were food insecure, and the remaining 32.6% had food security. The pregnant women from rural areas [AOR=0.532, 95 % CI: 0.285, 0.994], married [AOR=0.232, 95% CI: 0.072, 0.750], had a secondary education [AOR=0.356, 95%CI: 0.154, 0.822], and be employed [AOR=0.453, 95% CI: 0.236, 0.872], the wealth index middle [AOR=0.441, 95% CI: 0.246, 0.793] and rich [AOR=0.24, 95 % CI: 0.128, 0.449] were factors associated with food insecurity.The study area had a high prevalence of food insecurity. Food insecurity was reduced in those who lived in rural areas, were married, had a secondary education, were employed, and had a wealth index of middle and rich.

    Keywords: Food insecurity, factors, Pregnant Women, Gedeo zone, Public hospitals, Ethiopia

    Received: 11 Mar 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Areba, Akiso, Haile, Abire, Kanno, Lemma and Abame. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Abriham Shiferaw S. Areba, Wachemo University, Hosaena, Ethiopia

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