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. 2024 Feb 18;14(1):4003.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54666-w.

Household food insecurity and associated factors among postpartum women in southern Ethiopia: a community based cross sectional study

Dagne Deresa Dinagde  1 , Habtamu Wana Wada  2 , Menen Tilahun Chewaka  3
Affiliations

Household food insecurity and associated factors among postpartum women in southern Ethiopia: a community based cross sectional study

Dagne Deresa Dinagde et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Approximately two billion individuals, or 26.4% of the global population, live in moderate- to severely food-insecure circumstances. It was discovered that not receiving all recommended antenatal care throughout one's pregnancy is one of the effects of household insecurity. The majority of women in Ethiopia, one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, with 10% of the population facing food poverty, devote more of their time to household duties, making food insecurity in the home the primary effect of poor prenatal care utilization. The main objective this study was to assess the status of household food insecurity among postpartum women at Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 381 mothers who were enrolled from December 1, 2022, to January 30, 2023. The total sample size was allocated proportionately to the number of postpartum women living in each kebeles taking from the town registry of health extension workers for immunization. Thus, systematic sampling was applied. Kobo Toolbox was used for data collection and cleaning, which was then analyzed using the statistical package of Social Science Version 26 (SPSS). In this study, the prevalence of food insecurity was 30.2% (95% CI 25.5-34.5). The associated factors with household food-insecurity were maternal occupation (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.27, 0.90), late antenatal care initiation (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI 2.13, 5.91), and low monthly income (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.38, 6.93). Food insecurity among postpartum mothers in the study area is high. Families who are severely food insecure require quick assistance to lower poor maternal and neonate's outcomes. Furthermore, enhancing the occupation of mothers is crucial in reducing the morbidities and mortality of food insecure mothers, such as delayed prenatal care services, anemia, low birth weight, and stillbirth.

Keywords: Antenatal care; Arba Minch town; Food insecurity; Postpartum; Southern Ethiopia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of the study area [Shape file source: CSA, 2013; URL: https: //www.africaopendata.org/dataset/ethiopia-shapefiles].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The schematic diagram shows proportional allocation of sample size of each kebeles of Arba Minch town.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Household’s food security status of postpartum mothers of Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia, 2023 (n = 381).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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