Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

Poverty in developing and low socioeconomic areas, even if apprehended in light of monetary criteria (revenue, lifestyleâ�?¦) or non monetary criteria (educationâ�?¦) has an important repercussion on womenâ�?�?s food supply. In fact, food occupies a specific position within low income households because of its relative importance in the budget. In general, most families tempt to purchase cheap or less expensive food items, in order to feed the largest number of their family members , without taking into consideration the food quality or even foodâ�?�?s nutrients content. Therefore, food supply and nutritional status among unfavorable individuals could be altered due to the social and economic status. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the â�?�?Food security and nutritional health status among Lebanese women experiencing low socioeconomic conditionsâ�?.A transversal descriptive study was conducted on 127 women resident at Nabaa (very lo socioeconomic area in Beirut), aging between 20 and 60 years old and showing a crowding index lower than 1. Statistical analysis was carried out and multivariate models were used in order to evaluate the association between several independent variables and the food security and nutritional status of pregnant women. The final analysis has lead to the following general results: Among the participants whose average of body mass index is 26.9 +/- 5.7 Kg/m2, 86.6% have a percentage of fat mass above 30%, 40.9% are showing a faint health status, 32% have a ferritin level below the recommended norms, 42.5% have a poor food supply and 49.6% of the participants seem to be food insecured. Future governmental or national studies and programs could be settled to increase the awareness about food security and nutritional status among this specific class of the Lebanese population.

Biography

Yonna sacre has earned her PhD from Humboldt University in Berlin and her Masters Degree in Human Nutrion and Dietetics from Saint Joseph University Beirut. She is actually an assistant professor at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik , teaching different human and community nutrition courses. She is member of the Lebanese National Nutrition Exam Committee and Jury member and president of several master theses’ defense committees at USEK-Kaslik, Lebanon.

Email: yonna.sacre@gmail.com