AUTHOR=Minas Selamu , Ayele Behailu Hawulte , Sisay Mekonnen , Tusa Biruk Shalmeno , Roba Kedir Teji 

TITLE=Food insecurity and its associated factors among lactating mothers in the Chiro district, Eastern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.922774

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.922774

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=Introduction:Lactating mothers are extremely vulnerable to both macro and micronutrient deficiencies due to the increased nutritional requirements and high magnitude of food insecurity in low-income countries. However, a dearth of studies was conducted in sub-Saharan African countries including the current study area. Thus, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of food insecurity and its associated factors among lactating mothers in Chiro district, eastern Ethiopia.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 446 randomly selected lactating mothers from June 1- 30, 2020. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Data were entered using EpiData version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14.2 for cleaning and analysis. Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were fitted to check the association between independent variables and food insecurity. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p-value less than 0.05. 
Results: The magnitude of food insecurity among lactating mothers was 68.8 % [95 % CI: 64.4, 72.9] and 12.1% (95 % CI: 9.4, 15.5) were severely food insecure. Residing in the rural [AOR =2.36, 95% CI :1.21, 4.62], poor wealth indices [AOR =4.68, 95% CI :2.02, 10.8], owning farm land size less than a hector [AOR =2.35, 95% CI :1.06, 5.19], mothers who had less than three meals [AOR =2.70, 95% CI :1.33, 5.46], and who did not have own income [AOR =2.32, 95% CI :1.36, 3.96] were significantly associated factors with food insecurity among lactating mothers.
Conclusions: Food insecurity is highly prevalent in lactating mothers’ households. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders need to take action that addresses factors affecting mothers’ food security status through strengthening nutrition-sensitive interventions.