Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition

Household food insecurity (HFI) is a serious public health concern in Lebanon affecting the Lebanese and non-Lebanese residents. This study aims to investigate the correlation between household food insecurity and maternal depression, an indicator of mental health, and children malnutrition, a nutri...

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Main Author: Al Mashharawi, Farah (author)
Format: masterThesis
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/13882
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2022.394
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php
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author Al Mashharawi, Farah
author_facet Al Mashharawi, Farah
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Al Mashharawi, Farah
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022-07-27T05:30:40Z
2022-07-27T05:30:40Z
2022
2022-05-06
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10725/13882
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2022.394
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Lebanese American University
dc.rights.*.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Food security -- Lebanon
Depression, Mental -- Nutritional aspects
Malnutrition in children
Lebanese American University -- Dissertations
Dissertations, Academic
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Thesis
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
description Household food insecurity (HFI) is a serious public health concern in Lebanon affecting the Lebanese and non-Lebanese residents. This study aims to investigate the correlation between household food insecurity and maternal depression, an indicator of mental health, and children malnutrition, a nutritional proxy of the households. The study looks at the different coping mechanisms adopted by the mothers to mitigate the effects of household food insecurity. A sample of 219 participants and a sub-sample of 24 mothers were collected from a primary health care center (PHCC) in Beirut and from susceptible communities in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and South. A survey screened for HFI, depression and child malnutrition and semi-structured interviews probed about coping strategies. Spearman correlation coefficients were utilized to examine the correlations between HFI and depression and child malnutrition. Thematic analysis was conducted to categorize the responses of the interviewees. A strong positive correlation was found between HFI and maternal depression. HFI was not found to be linked to the nutritional status of the children under 5. Eight main themes were identified as coping mechanisms adopted by the mothers, including: maternal self-sacrificial behavior, compromised quantity and quality of the food, economic restraint, distractions from eating, negative maternal emotions, infant and young child feeding practices, social isolation of children and paternal buffering mechanisms. In conclusion, further investigation is warranted to determine the effectiveness of the coping mechanisms in preventing childhood malnutrition.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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id LAURepo_8e4715dfe6c84a0c1a0a7d2304e25d5b
language_invalid_str_mv en
network_acronym_str LAURepo
network_name_str Lebanese American University repository
oai_identifier_str oai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/13882
publishDate 2022
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Lebanese American University
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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spelling Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s MalnutritionAl Mashharawi, FarahFood security -- LebanonDepression, Mental -- Nutritional aspectsMalnutrition in childrenLebanese American University -- DissertationsDissertations, AcademicHousehold food insecurity (HFI) is a serious public health concern in Lebanon affecting the Lebanese and non-Lebanese residents. This study aims to investigate the correlation between household food insecurity and maternal depression, an indicator of mental health, and children malnutrition, a nutritional proxy of the households. The study looks at the different coping mechanisms adopted by the mothers to mitigate the effects of household food insecurity. A sample of 219 participants and a sub-sample of 24 mothers were collected from a primary health care center (PHCC) in Beirut and from susceptible communities in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and South. A survey screened for HFI, depression and child malnutrition and semi-structured interviews probed about coping strategies. Spearman correlation coefficients were utilized to examine the correlations between HFI and depression and child malnutrition. Thematic analysis was conducted to categorize the responses of the interviewees. A strong positive correlation was found between HFI and maternal depression. HFI was not found to be linked to the nutritional status of the children under 5. Eight main themes were identified as coping mechanisms adopted by the mothers, including: maternal self-sacrificial behavior, compromised quantity and quality of the food, economic restraint, distractions from eating, negative maternal emotions, infant and young child feeding practices, social isolation of children and paternal buffering mechanisms. In conclusion, further investigation is warranted to determine the effectiveness of the coping mechanisms in preventing childhood malnutrition.1 online resource (x, 42 leaves)Includes bibliographical references (leaf 29-33)Lebanese American University2022-07-27T05:30:40Z2022-07-27T05:30:40Z20222022-05-06Thesisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesishttp://hdl.handle.net/10725/13882https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2022.394http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.phpeninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/138822022-08-23T06:45:03Z
spellingShingle Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
Al Mashharawi, Farah
Food security -- Lebanon
Depression, Mental -- Nutritional aspects
Malnutrition in children
Lebanese American University -- Dissertations
Dissertations, Academic
status_str publishedVersion
title Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
title_full Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
title_fullStr Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
title_full_unstemmed Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
title_short Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
title_sort Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition
topic Food security -- Lebanon
Depression, Mental -- Nutritional aspects
Malnutrition in children
Lebanese American University -- Dissertations
Dissertations, Academic
url http://hdl.handle.net/10725/13882
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2022.394
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php