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Table 4 Odds ratios (OR) of food insecurity in households with children, September 2012 and May 2013, Iqaluit, Canadaa

From: Food insecurity and food consumption by season in households with children in an Arctic city: a cross-sectional study

Characteristics September 2012 May 2013
n (%) OR 95% CI n (%) OR 95% CI
Demographic characteristics
 Ageb
  0–40 years old 149 (64.8) ref.   170 (66.2) ref.  
  41–54 years old 65 (28.3) 1.46 0.77, 2.76 71 (27.6) 1.16 0.62, 2.15
  55 years old and over 16 (7.0) 1.06 0.34, 3.30 16 (6.2) 1.00 0.29, 3.43
 Genderb
  Male 70 (30.3) ref.   94 (36.6) ref.  
  Female 161 (69.7) 2.21* 1.13, 4.32 163 (63.4) 1.30 0.72, 2.34
 Ethnic originc
  Non-Inuit 61 (26.4) ref.   81 (31.5) ref.  
  Inuit 170 (73.6) 8.89*** 3.36, 23.52 176 (68.5) 21.85*** 6.60, 72.38
Socioeconomic characteristics
 Formal educationd
  Secondary school completed 118 (51.1) ref.   163 (63.4) ref.  
  Secondary school not completed 113 (43.9) 4.29*** 2.29, 8.02 94 (36.6) 3.24*** 1.80, 5.82
 Employment statuse
  Unemployed 103 (45.0) ref.   105 (40.9) ref.  
  Employed 126 (55.0) 0.11*** 0.06, 0.22 152 (59.1) 0.24*** 0.13, 0.43
 Retail food expensesf
  Less than $451 144 (63.4) ref.   180 (71.4) ref.  
  Over $451 in past week 83 (36.6) 0.80 0.43, 1.48 72 (28.6) 1.75 0.94, 3.25
 Local food expensesg
  Less than $451 196 (93.3) ref.   124 (89.2) ref.  
  Over $451 in past week 14 (6.7) 1.66 0.53, 5.15 15 (10.8) 0.64 0.13, 3.12
 Other household expensesh
  Less than $1401 94 (44.8) ref.   92 (40.0) ref.  
  Over $1401 in past month 116 (55.2) 0.18*** 0.09, 0.35 138 (60.0) 0.31*** 0.16, 0.57
Frequency of food consumptioni
 Fruit and vegetablesj
  Less than half of the meals 44 (19.2) ref.   58 (22.7) ref.  
  More than half of the meals 185 (80.8) 0.40* 0.20, 0.80 198 (77.3) 0.45* 0.23, 0.86
 Local foodsk
  Less than half of the meals 199 (86.9) ref.   233 (90.7) ref.  
  More than half of the meals 30 (13.1) 1.64 0.74, 3.64 24 (9.34) 2.64 0.98, 7.16
 Retail foodsl
  Less than half of the meals 63 (27.5) ref.   76 (29.6) ref.  
  More than half of the meals 166 (72.5) 0.79 0.41, 1.50 181 (70.4) 2.13* 1.09, 4.17
 Method of food preparationm
  Cooked fish
   No 93 (40.8) ref.   117 (45.7) ref.  
   Yes 135 (59.2) 0.53* 0.29, 0.96 139 (54.3) 0.50* 0.28, 0.88
  Raw meat and/or fish
   No 106 (46.5) ref.   123 (48.1) ref.  
   Yes 122 (53.5) 1.65 0.91, 2.97 133 (51.9) 1.78* 1.01, 3.14
  Fermented meat and/or fish
   No 213 (93.4) ref.   239 (93.4) ref.  
   Yes 15 (6.6) 1.17 0.37, 3.73 17 (6.6) 1.11 0.36, 3.36
  Dried meat and/or fish
   No 112 (49.1) ref.   160 (62.5) ref.  
   Yes 116 (50.9) 1.06 0.59, 1.89 96 (37.5) 0.88 0.48, 1.60
  Frozen meat and/or fish
   No 87 (38.2) ref.   98 (38.3) ref.  
   Yes 141 (61.8) 2.63** 1.39, 4.98 158 (61.7) 2.04* 1.12, 3.72
  1. a P value determined using an univariable logistic regression model. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001
  2. bAge and gender are those of the person responsible for food preparation
  3. cEthnic origin of the household was assumed to be the same as of the person responsible for food preparation
  4. dFormal education of the person responsible for food preparation
  5. eEmployment status of the person responsible for food preparation. Includes part-time and full-time employment
  6. f‘Retail food expenses’ include household spending in an average week for food bought from the retail store
  7. g‘Local food expenses’ include household spending in an average week for obtaining or buying local food (e.g. gas, ammunition, supplies, equipment and/or local food)
  8. h‘Other household expenses’ include household spending in the last month for rent, mortgage, electricity, heating fuel, gas, water and sewage, garbage, skidoo parts and oil, bullets, naphtha, and material
  9. iParticipants reported the number of meals that included these foods in the past month. For purpose of analyses, categories were combined into ‘Less than half of the meals’ (‘None’ to ‘Half of the meals’) and ‘More than half of the meals’ (‘More than half of the meals’ to ‘All meals’)
  10. jFruit and vegetables include fruit and vegetables coming from the land and from the store
  11. kLocal foods include freshly caught fish and meat from the land
  12. lRetail foods include fish from the retail store, meat from the retail store and pre-packaged, processed, or ready-to-eat food from the retail store
  13. mMethod of preparation includes preparation of fish and meat, except for ‘cooked’ which includes only cooked fish because of not enough observations for cooked meat. Participants reported their past 2 week consumption
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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