Maternal food insecurity and low birth weight: A hospital-based case–control study in Eastern India

Abstract

Abstract Background: As household food insecurity is directly connected with the amount and quality of nutrition available to a person, maternal food insecurity, therefore, might have a role to play in poor pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight (LBW). Objectives: To find out whether maternal food insecurity was associated with LBW among infants born between May and June of 2020 in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India. Materials and Methods: The study was a case–control design, conducted among a set of sex-matched cases and controls. 105 LBW infants were taken as cases and 105 infants with birth weight ≥2500 g were taken as controls. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to ascertain the relationship between the independent and dependent variables and crude and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were calculated to find out the association between the exposure and the outcome. Results: The cases and controls were statistically comparable with respect to baseline characteristics. Univariable analysis showed that the odds of LBW were 7.77 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.73–16.16) times more in food-insecure households. After adjusting for other variables included in the analysis, the AOR for food insecurity was 8.04 (95% CI: 3.81–16.94). Conclusion: The odds of giving birth to a LBW infant were higher in mothers belonging to food-insecure households. Addressing the prevalent barriers to accessibility, affordability, and adequacy of nutrition can be effective in mitigating this problem.