The situation of food security and related factors in female teachers of Yasuj Education Department

Background and Aim: Food insecurity is recognized as a serious public health problem in the world and has attracted the attention of the public, professionals, and policymakers. Food insecurity and hunger can affect social and mental health as well as physical health. Given that women makeup, half of human society and have a significant and far-reaching impact on public health; this study aimed to assess the food security status among employees’ women in the Department of Education. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, among female teachers of Yasuj Education Department, 400 female teachers were randomly selected using a list of random numbers assigned to teachers with a simple randomization method. The Radimer-Cornell questionnaire was used to assess the food security, and a Seca scale and a tape measure were used to measure weight and height respectively. After collecting the data, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 19. Findings: In the present study, the mean and standard deviation of participant’s age was 37/87±6/89 years and the mean and standard deviation of body mass index was 25/90±3/70 kg/m2. The results of this study showed that in terms of body mass index, 123 people had a BMI below 25 (30/8 % = normal weight), 197 people had a BMI of 25 to 30 (49.2% = overweight) and 80 people had a BMI of more than 30 (20 % = obese). 70/5 % of teachers suffered from varying degrees of food insecurity, and only 29/5 % of the women studied had complete food security. They reported food insecurity on household (50%), individual (12%), and child (8.5%) scales. In examining the factors related to food security, the results of statistical tests showed that economic status, housing status, spouse's job, and participants' education have a significant statistical relationship with three scales of food insecurity (household, individual and child). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that there are degrees of food insecurity in a large part of the female teachers' community and that social and economic factors also play an important role in this food insecurity. It seems that it is possible to take steps to improve this problem with appropriate policies and executive strategies.