Assessment of food insecurity and nutritional outcomes in Bachok, Kelantan

Aim: This study is to examine the association between food insecurity and nutritional outcomes among children and adults and its impact on the quality of life of the mother in rural sample in Bachok-Kelantan. Method: A cross-sectional survey of low income households was conducted and 223 households of mothers aged 18-55 years old, non-lactating, non-pregnant mother and having at least one child in 2-12 years range were purposively selected. A questionnaire was administered including the Radimer/Cornell scale; items on sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements and quality of life tool (SF36). Results: The study reported that 16.1% of the households were food secure, while 83.9% experienced some kind of food insecurity, (29.6% households were food insecure, 19.3% individuals were food insecure and 35.0% fell into the child hunger category). The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among the food insecure children were 61.0%, 61.4% and 30.6% respectively, and the prevalence of weight-for-height (overweight) was 1.3%. Based on multinomial logistic regression, larger household size (OR=1.776; 95%C.I, 1.35, 2.32; p<0.001), number of children in the household ( OR=1.20; 95%CI,1.025, 1.42; p=0.024), total monthly income (OR=0.977; 95% CI, 0.995, 0.998; p<0.001), income per capita (OR=0.98; 95% CI, 0.97, 0.98; p