OBJECTIVES: to investigate food insecurity and inadequate bonding between mother and child as two potential factors determining malnutrition among children aged between four and six years. METHODS: a case-control study was conducted in Municipal Primary Schools in Jardim Jaqueline, a highly underprivileged neighborhood of the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale and the Mother-Child Bonding Evaluation Protocol were applied and biological and socio-economic data collected. The multiple logistic regression model was used to confirm the effect of each independent variable and to control for other variables included in the model. RESULTS: both family food insecurity (OR=3.6) and inadequate mother-child bonding (OR=9.4) were confirmed to be associated with child malnutrition (p<0.05), even when controlled for weight at birth, age, and marital and employment status of mother. CONCLUSIONS: both family food insecurity (OR=3.6) and inadequate mother-child bonding (OR=9.4) were shown to be factors determining the occurrence of malnutrition in the population covered by the study.
Food security; Mother-child relations; Child nutrition disorders; Hunger; Socioeconomic factors; Urban population
