Severe food insecurity and mental health among women living in extreme poverty in Ceara, Brazil

Backgroung: the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity (FI) in the world will reach 2.4 billion people in 2020. Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) affect one in five people, reaching all social classes. Objective: to examine the associations between CMDs and FI in the most vulnerable population, mothers of young children. Methods: population-based cross-sectional observational study, interviewing 484 families with children under six years of age, beneficiaries of the cash transfer program Cartão Mais Infância Ceará (CMIC), in 24 municipalities of Ceara. Poisson regression models were used, adjusted for the sampling effect. Results: 86% of the families were in a situation of FI, with 36% expressing a severe FI, a condition compatible with hunger. In relation to CMDs, it was observed that the prevalence of severe FI increased significantly, affecting 53% of mothers with CMDs against 31% of those without the disorder (p<0.001). Regression analysis showed that CMDs remained the risk factor most associated with severe FI, with mothers with CMDs having a 64% higher adjusted risk compared to other mothers (p=0.002). In the final model, the condition of not having treated water at home was associated with a 55% higher adjusted risk of severe FI (p=0.011), and two factors were close to statistical significance, namely: not feeling safe at home (possibility of domestic violence) and growing edible plants at home, with adjusted measures of 48% risk and 13% protection, respectively. Conclusion: 13% of this population live with very high rates of severe FI, compatible with hunger, concomitant with CMDs. As aggravating factors of severe FI and CMDs, public social support programs are necessary to have a real positive impact on the quality of life of this population.