{"title":"Food Security Status, Coping Strategies, and Health of Women's Welfare Society Beneficiaries in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Facility-Based Study.","authors":"Mahitab A Hanbazaza, Walaa A Mumena","doi":"10.1080/03670244.2021.1926244","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study assessed the food security status of low-income women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in addition to their coping strategies, health, and well-being. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 113 women receiving food assistance from a women's welfare society. Data were collected using in-person structured interviews. Overall, 50% of the women were food-insecure. Compared with food-secure women, food-insecure women were more likely to utilize many coping strategies. The mean score of coping strategies was significantly greater among food-insecure women, than that of food-secure women (21.0 ± 5.35 and 10.2 ± 5.78, respectively; <i>p</i> < .001). Food-insecure women were also more likely to report poor mental and overall health compared to food-secure women (<i>p</i> = .008 and <i>p</i> < .001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in life satisfaction between both food security groups (<i>p</i> = .260). Low-income women may use several strategies to cope with food insecurity, which may affect mental and overall health. Further research is needed on the effect of food insecurity on health and well-being of low-income groups in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data are also needed to better understand the reasons of food insecurity and preventing poor health outcomes among disadvantaged populations in Saudi Arabia.</p>","PeriodicalId":11511,"journal":{"name":"Ecology of Food and Nutrition","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/03670244.2021.1926244","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecology of Food and Nutrition","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.2021.1926244","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/5/17 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study assessed the food security status of low-income women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in addition to their coping strategies, health, and well-being. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 113 women receiving food assistance from a women's welfare society. Data were collected using in-person structured interviews. Overall, 50% of the women were food-insecure. Compared with food-secure women, food-insecure women were more likely to utilize many coping strategies. The mean score of coping strategies was significantly greater among food-insecure women, than that of food-secure women (21.0 ± 5.35 and 10.2 ± 5.78, respectively; p < .001). Food-insecure women were also more likely to report poor mental and overall health compared to food-secure women (p = .008 and p < .001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in life satisfaction between both food security groups (p = .260). Low-income women may use several strategies to cope with food insecurity, which may affect mental and overall health. Further research is needed on the effect of food insecurity on health and well-being of low-income groups in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data are also needed to better understand the reasons of food insecurity and preventing poor health outcomes among disadvantaged populations in Saudi Arabia.
期刊介绍:
Ecology of Food and Nutrition is an international journal of food and nutrition in the broadest sense. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of food and nutrition -- ecological, biological, and cultural. Ecology of Food and Nutrition strives to become a forum for disseminating scholarly information on the holistic and cross-cultural dimensions of the study of food and nutrition. It emphasizes foods and food systems not only in terms of their utilization to satisfy human nutritional needs and health, but also to promote and contest social and cultural identity. The content scope is thus wide -- articles may focus on the relationship between food and nutrition, food taboos and preferences, ecology and political economy of food, the evolution of human nutrition, changes in food habits, food technology and marketing, food and identity, and food sustainability. Additionally, articles focusing on the application of theories and methods to address contemporary food and nutrition problems are encouraged. Questions of the relationship between food/nutrition and culture are as germane to the journal as analyses of the interactions among nutrition and environment, infection and human health.