Keino, SusanPlasqui, Guyvan den Borne, Bart2024-06-202014-01-28Keino, S., Plasqui, G. & van den Borne, B. Household food insecurity access: a predictor of overweight and underweight among Kenyan women. Agric & Food Secur 3, 2 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-3-2https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-3-2https://repository.nrf.go.ke/handle/123456789/832There has been a rise in the number of overweight women across the globe and sub-Saharan Africa has not been spared. Our objective was to describe the performance of household food security as a factor in determining overweight and underweight among Kenyan women of child-bearing age.A cross sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was carried out among 656 households with women of child-bearing age from both rural and urban settings in the Rift Valley, Kenya.Of all households involved, 70.1% were categorized as severely food insecure, 21.9% were moderately food insecure, and 3.7% were mildly food insecure, whereas 4.3% were food secure. Urban women had higher mean BMI (M = 24.53, SD = 4.36), compared to rural women (M = 22.52, SD = 3.71; P <0.000). Households with more children had decreased dietary diversity (r = -0.154; P <0.01). Logistical regression indicated that more food-secure households (OR = 0.97; 95% CI 9.4, 1.0), urban residence (OR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.1, 3.0), older age (OR = 1.10; 95% CI 1.1, 1.5), and high standard of living (OR = 1.79; 95% CI 1.2, 1.5) were strong predictors of overweight while being underweight was predicted by younger age (OR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83, 1.0).enDietary diversity and womenFood insecurity accessOverweight UnderweightArticle