Food Security, and Health And Nutritional Status of Indian Women From Oil Palm Plantations in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the relationship between food security and health and nutritional status among 169 Indian women (19- 49 years, non-pregnant and non-lactating) from selected oil palm plantations in Negeri Sembilan. The women were interviewed for socio-economic,...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2004
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6542/1/FPSK%28M%29_2007_5.pdf |
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| Summary: | A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the relationship between
food security and health and nutritional status among 169 Indian women (19-
49 years, non-pregnant and non-lactating) from selected oil palm plantations
in Negeri Sembilan. The women were interviewed for socio-economic,
demographic, physical activity, household food security and dietary intake
information and measured for weight, height, waist circumference and blood
pressure. Blood samples were collected from 147 women and analyzed for
total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), lowdensity
lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG) and plasma glucose
(FPG) levels. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, ANOVA and logistic
regression were conducted. Using the Radimer/Comell Hunger and Food
Insecurity Instrument, a majority of the households experienced household
insecurity (24.9%), individual insecurity (19.5%) or child hunger (40.8%).
About 39.1% and 26.0% of the women were overweight and obese,
respectively. More than half (68.6%) of the women had at risk waist
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circumference (~ 88 cm). While 70.4% of the women were in the highly active
category, 29.6% were either sufficiently active or insufficiently active. The
mean intake of energy and most nutrients were lower than the recommended
values. Similarty, the mean number of servings for all food groups was less
than the recommended servings. The mean diet diversity score was 10.10 ±
10.00 (maximum=29) with most women (89.4%) had diet diversity less than
10. The percentages of women with TG~2.3 mmollL, TC~ 6.2mmoIlL, LDLC>
4.1 mmollL, HDL-C<1.03 mmollL, FPG~6.1 mmollL and BP~130/85 mmHg
were 14.3%, 2.8%, 12.2%, 32%, 12.9% and 19.7%, respectively. There were
significantly decreasing patterns in mean household income, income per
capita, year of schooling, diet diversity, vitamin A intake and number of
serving from meaUfishllegumes and increasing patterns in mean number of
children and prevalence of women with at risk waist circumferences with
severity of food insecurity (p<0.05). For physical activity, women
experiencing household food insecurity significantly spent higher minutes/day
(333.13 ± 178.36) for moderate activities than women in food secure and
child hunger households. In addition, women experiencing household food
insecurity significantly spent higher minutes/day (343.70 ± 185.65) for
vigorous activities than child hunger households (p<0.05). There was no
significant difference in TG, HDL-C, FPG and blood pressure by food security
levels. The mean number of health risks was significantly higher in child
hunger (2.27 ± 1.20) than in individual food insecure (1.48 ± 1.05) groups.
While the prevalence of people with more than 3 health risks was highest in
child hunger group (42.9%), a majority (82.4%) of food secure women had
less than 3 health risks. The logistic regression showed that housewives,
higher age, higher waist circumference, lower years of education and lower
duration of physical activity significantly increased the risk for the women to
have health problems. In addition, women who had higher intake of milk and
dairy products, meatlfish/poultry/legumes and higher diet diversity were more
likely to be protected against health problems. In the present study, the effect
of food insecurity on health risks is through dietary intakes, which may have
impact on waist circumference. As households become food insecure, the
ability to obtain variety of foods will be compromised and consequently put
the women at risk of having high waist circumference and other health
problems. The present study showed that food insecurity among the Indian
women from selected palm plantations is indirectly associated with poor
health and nutritional status. Therefore, appropriate community-based
intervention programs should be developed and implemented to address the
problem of food insecurity and possible health and nutritional outcomes. |
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