Educational Level And Food Security In The Northern Zone Of Ecuador

Resumen

The level of schooling (LS) of the heads of families determines the basic knowledge in nutritional education that is reflected when measuring food insecurity (FI). The objective of this investigation was to determine the LS, food security (FS) and adequacy of energy and macronutrient consumption in the Northern Zone of Ecuador. The study was descriptive, cross-sectional, in 826 families, the ELCSA scale was used to measure FS and the 24-hour reminder to identify the percentage of adequacy of energy and macronutrients. Among the results, the mean age of those surveyed was 48.66 ± 16.06 years, 69.25% women, 63.56% had primary schooling (PS), 28.09% secondary schooling (SS) and 8.35 % without study (WE). The sizes of the families were: small (41.89%) and medium (47.94%); the majority of them dedicate to household chores (41.16%) and agriculture (34.62%). There were statistically significant differences (p = 0.001) between the degree of moderate FI in people without studies (40.60%) compared to those of primary (25.30%) or secondary (28.90%), as well as a higher level of schooling could be associated with greater Food Security (secondary 14.20%) compared to less education (primary 7.40%) or without studies (4.30%). No differences were found between the adequacies of energy or macronutrient consumption between the different LSs. The level of schooling of family representatives influences household food security, but not energy or macronutrient consumption.