Food Insecurity is Associated with Low Dietary Diversity in Rural Women in Mexico: Results from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey, ENSANUT 2018.

Rural women suffer greater vulnerability to food insecurity (FI) compared to their urban or male counterparts. We analyzed the association between food security (FS) status and dietary diversity (DD) in rural women through data from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2018 from 2,099 rural women. DD was measured using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. FS was measured using the Latin America and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA). The prevalence of any level of FI was 70.1%. Mean DD score was 3.8. Mild FI was associated with low DD (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.06, 2.10). Results highlight the need for government strategies targeted to this population sector to improve their diet quality.