Socio-demographic Determinants of Household Food Insecurity among Iranian: A Population-based Study from Northwest of Iran

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the household food security status and associated factors in East-Azerbaijan, Iran (urban and regional areas). METHODS: Data (n=1385) as a part of the major lifestyle promotion project conducted in northwest of Iran were collected in 2015, by short form of the Household Food Security Scale consisting six questions. The Chi-square and Logistic regression were used to for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of food insecurity was 58.4%. The rate of food insecurity in the residents of capital city (59.7%) was higher than those of residents of regional cities (57.18%), however, this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.36). The respondents with family size more than 3 (P=0.01), unemployed (0.001) and married (0.01) respondents and the ones with lower education levels (P<0.001) were significantly more food insecure than other respondents. After adjusting for depending factors, the marital status, household size, educational level and the employment status of the head of the family had significant association with food security. CONCLUSION: Family size, employment status and educational level of the head of the family were significant predictors of food insecurity. Policymakers should focus on increasing minimum education levels and employment situations to decrease food insecurity.