Hunger and Its Associated Factors in an Urban Cluster in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Population-Based Study

Hunger and Its Associated Factors in an Urban Cluster in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Population-Based Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research article Hunger and Its Associated Factors in an Urban Cluster in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Population-Based Study Mayline Menezes da Mata, José Anael Neves, Maria Angélica Tavares de Medeiros This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background : Hunger affects millions of people worldwide. In the current pandemic scenario of COVID-19, Brazil experienced an epidemic peak of hunger, amplifying existing pre-pandemic vulnerabilities, mainly in the Northern Region of the Country. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity and its associated factors in homes with children under five years of age in an urban cluster of a municipality of the Western Brazilian Amazon. Methods : A household survey was conducted with a probabilistic sample of 557 children and their families. Food insecurity (FI) was determined using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Associations between variables were analyzed based on the prevalence ratio (PR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated through multiple Poisson regression analysis. Variables with a p -value <0.05 after adjustments were considered significantly associated with the outcome. Results : A high prevalence of food insecurity was found among the families in the study (76.47%, PR=1.90, CI: 1.36-2.67, p <0.001); 42.90% had moderate (PR=1.93, CI: 1.31-2.83, p <0.01) and severe FI (PR=1.41, CI: 1.10-1.83, p <0.02), which was associated with low family income, participation in governmental income transfer programs, and heads of households with less than seven years of schooling. Moreover, substantial frequencies of height deficit and overweight were found among the children. Conclusions : The high prevalence of hunger and food insecurity and its associated factors reflects the context of geographic isolation and social exclusion in which these families live, suggesting that a substantial portion of the population under five years of age had experienced episodes of hunger in the 90 days prior to the survey. The high prevalence of height deficit and overweight among the children reveals a scenario of epidemiological/nutritional polarization, requiring the formulation of specific public policies for this population. Nutrition & Dietetics Food and Nutritional Security Nutrition Programs and Policies Nutritional Epidemiology Social Inequality Nutritional Surveys. Figures Figure 1 Full Text Tables Due to technical limitations, table 1,2 is only available as a download in the Supplemental Files section. Supplementary Files Table1HealthPopulationandNutrition.pdf STROBEchecklistcrosssectional.pdf Table2JHealthPopulNutr.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-634658","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":38747513,"identity":"a6f697ab-9024-4df5-8105-6c86b4a497e8","order_by":0,"name":"Mayline Menezes da Mata","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade Federal de São Paulo: Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mayline","middleName":"Menezes da","lastName":"Mata","suffix":""},{"id":38747514,"identity":"4e3d4ab5-2f4e-4d0a-8639-3dc5f0a7e72e","order_by":1,"name":"José Anael Neves","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade Federal de São Paulo: Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"José","middleName":"Anael","lastName":"Neves","suffix":""},{"id":38747515,"identity":"959b9f83-ce00-4bf7-b6a7-06126b402c4f","order_by":2,"name":"Maria Angélica Tavares de Medeiros","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8982-7084","institution":"Universidade Federal de São Paulo: Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"Angélica Tavares","lastName":"de Medeiros","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2021-06-17 12:30:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":11413234,"identity":"81094bee-c172-4ece-8940-6ecbcea48033","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-07-13 14:20:18","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":60515,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Conceptual model of determinants and potential consequences of food insecurity in a population of the Western Brazilian Amazon, 2019.\nSource: The authors. ","description":"","filename":"fig1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1/e92cf0d5ce8351870d8bd725.jpg"},{"id":13657627,"identity":"342740a1-b570-43e1-951d-45e6f450b3be","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-09-17 10:11:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":373300,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MaindocumentwithDeclarations.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":11413238,"identity":"5976ca6e-35fc-4f81-b8b2-e44871d77bf3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-07-13 14:20:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":369797,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MaindocumentwithDeclarations.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":11413235,"identity":"011658f6-ec29-4b97-8a2a-5290f9206f2e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-07-13 14:20:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":459999,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Table1HealthPopulationandNutrition.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1/6e29ac870d3b5e128300b0a6.pdf"},{"id":11413237,"identity":"f27ca158-dd86-4964-b191-8c25b9bc55de","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-07-13 14:20:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":138906,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"STROBEchecklistcrosssectional.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1/b3963bbc8f309ae2b7bf1c9e.pdf"},{"id":11413236,"identity":"ba3ca4b2-b17c-47bc-a9d2-eb2692fea4b5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-07-13 14:20:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":140042,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Table2JHealthPopulNutr.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-634658/v1/b170f2385897b0f1af6e40a1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eHunger and Its Associated Factors in an Urban Cluster in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Population-Based Study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Full Text","content":"This preprint is available for \u003ca href='/article/rs-634658/latest.pdf' target='_blank'\u003edownload as a PDF\u003c/a\u003e."},{"header":"Tables","content":"\u003cp\u003eDue to technical limitations, table 1,2 is only available as a download in the Supplemental Files section.\u003c/p\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Food and Nutritional Security, Nutrition Programs and Policies, Nutritional Epidemiology, Social Inequality, Nutritional Surveys.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e: Hunger affects millions of people worldwide. In the current pandemic scenario of COVID-19, Brazil experienced an epidemic peak of hunger, amplifying existing pre-pandemic vulnerabilities, mainly in the Northern Region of the Country. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity and its associated factors in homes with children under five years of age in an urban cluster of a municipality of the Western Brazilian Amazon. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e: A household survey was conducted with a probabilistic sample of 557 children and their families. Food insecurity (FI) was determined using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Associations between variables were analyzed based on the prevalence ratio (PR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated through multiple Poisson regression analysis. Variables with a p -value \u0026lt;0.05 after adjustments were considered significantly associated with the outcome. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e: A high prevalence of food insecurity was found among the families in the study (76.47%, PR=1.90, CI: 1.36-2.67, p \u0026lt;0.001); 42.90% had moderate (PR=1.93, CI: 1.31-2.83, p \u0026lt;0.01) and severe FI (PR=1.41, CI: 1.10-1.83, p \u0026lt;0.02), which was associated with low family income, participation in governmental income transfer programs, and heads of households with less than seven years of schooling. Moreover, substantial frequencies of height deficit and overweight were found among the children. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions\u003c/strong\u003e: The high prevalence of hunger and food insecurity and its associated factors reflects the context of geographic isolation and social exclusion in which these families live, suggesting that a substantial portion of the population under five years of age had experienced episodes of hunger in the 90 days prior to the survey. The high prevalence of height deficit and overweight among the children reveals a scenario of epidemiological/nutritional polarization, requiring the formulation of specific public policies for this population.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Hunger and Its Associated Factors in an Urban Cluster in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Population-Based Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-07-13 14:20:16","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-634658/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e4ec0dc7-55d5-4888-aee0-55296008ebcc","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 13th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":5678246,"name":"Nutrition \u0026 Dietetics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2021-10-22T08:46:36+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2021-07-13 14:20:16","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-634658","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-634658","identity":"rs-634658","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"cBFmMYwuxLRRLfASyISRj","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}