Influência da insegurança alimentar sobre a hipertensão arterial e diabetes mellitus no distrito Kamavota

Abstract

Food insecurity has been associated with series of diseases or chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, including anxiety, sleep disorders and depression. Diabetes Mellitus and High Blood Pressure are important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. They are the main causes of death and morbidity globally, contributing to mortality of 43.4% in developed countries and 25.9% in developing countries. The study aimed to evaluate the influence of food insecurity on Diabetes Mellitus and High Blood Pressure in the Kamavota district. A cross- sectional observational study was carried out, 450 households in the district participated in the study. Data on households were collected using a previously validated questionnaire adapted for the Mozambican context in which dependent variables (Hypertension and Diabetes) and independent variables (food insecurity and sociodemographic characteristics) were analyzed. All analyzes were performed in the IBM SPSS statistical package version 29.0 and the Chi-square test was applied to compare the significance of the proportions related to hypertension and diabetes. The prevalence of Food Insecurity in Kamavota district was 61%, 24.6% of the population had High Blood Pressure and 3.6% had Diabetes Mellitus. Variables such as severe food insecurity, family income and education have a significant relationship with Diabetes. Variables such as severe food insecurity, low and medium dietary diversity, food income and education had a significant relationship with Arterial Hypertension. The results of this study could be useful in determining preventive measures and improving the quality of care in this district towards the reduction and eradication of these diseases