Depression and Its Association with Food Insecurity in Household Women Living in Northwest of Iran

Background and Objectives: Depression is the most common mood disorder, which may be experienced by most of the people during their life. Food insecurity may result in mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to assess depression status and its relation to household food insecurity in women living in Northwest of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional community-based study, 480 women with high-school children were selected from East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, using random sampling method. Beck depression inventory, 18-item food security questionnaires and socio-economic questionnaires were completed by the participants and then weight and height of the participants were measured. Independent sample t-test, chi-square test and binary multiple logistic regressions were used for data analysis. The P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In this study, frequencies of depression and household food insecurity included 43.1 and 48.3%, respectively. Results indicated significant positive correlations between the food insecurity and depression in women. Of the studied socio-economic variables, age, family size, economic status, occupational status of women and their husbands and educational levels were significantly associated with depression. Body mass index (BMI) of women was negatively associated with depression. Conclusions: Results showed that frequencies of depression and household food insecurity were high in participants. It seems that the improvement of socioeconomic status and subsequently improvement of the women's food security can positively affect their mental health.