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Fulltext Food security: concepts and definitions

Norhasmah, S., Zalilah, M.S., Asnarulkhadi, A.S.

Malaysian Journal of Community Health, 2010;16(2):2-9.
MyJurnal

Introduction: The purpose of this article is to review the definitions of food security and food insecurity as well as the concepts related to food security.
Methodology: This is a systematic review on a few papers, research, and articles according to studies and research by various organizations, experts, scholars on food security in developed and developing countries.
Result: The first definition of food security was given to reflect the comprehensive concerns on the availability of world food supplies. The definition was expanded to incorporate accessibility of food for all people at all times. Then, the complex definitions of food security incorporated food accessibility and availability as well as the quality of food intake. Latest definition integrates the social aspect of food that should be accessed in a socially acceptable way. Broad definition of food insecurity and several terms that closely related were also discovered. The four main concepts of food security from these definitions were identified; availability, accessibility, acceptability and adequacy. These concepts of food security are relevant to micro, meso and macro levels of social and administrative organizations. Conclusion: Understanding definitions and concepts of food security can assist researchers, policy makers and program implementers to conduct research that address the issues of food security.
Fulltext Dietary diversity is associated with nutritional status of Orang Asli children in Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang

Ey Chua EY, Zalilah MS, Ys Chin YS, Norhasmah S

Malays J Nutr, 2012 Apr;18(1):1-13.
PMID: 23713226 MyJurnal

It is known that dietary diversity improves diet quality and nutritional status of young children. This study aimed to determine the relationship between dietary diversity and nutritional status of Orang Asli children in Krau Wildlife Reserve.
Fulltext A Qualitative Study on Coping Strategies among Women from Food Insecurity Households in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan

Norhasmah S, Zalilah MS, Mohd Nasir MT, Kandiah M, Asnarulkhadi AS

Malays J Nutr, 2010 Apr;16(1):39-54.
PMID: 22691852 MyJurnal

Understanding the experiences of household food insecurity is essential for better measurement and assessment of its nutritional, physical and psychological consequences. This qualitative study explored coping strategies and their perceived severity in relation to household food insecurity. Women (n=57; 20-50 years old) from rural and urban areas in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan participated in this study. These women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into two parts, that is, demographic and socio-economic information and women's experiences of coping with household food insecurity. Women were chosen since they were primarily responsible for food acquisition and preparation for the all household members. Thematic analysis was utilized in data analysis. Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns and themes of the qualitative data. Themes capture something important related to the study objectives and describe an integrating as well as relational idea from the data. Results showed that households displayed a variety of non-food related coping strategies and food-related coping strategies. Women's descriptions of non-food related coping strategies to food insecurity were categorised into five themes i.e. cloth purchasing behaviors, reduce school-going children's expenditure, delay the payment of bills, adjust lifestyle and increase cash and income earning. Food related coping strategies were categorised into four themes i.e. food stretching, food rationing, food seeking and food anxiety. Food stretching is a strategy of food insecurity that affects the quality of diet. Food rationing comprises coping strategies of food insecurity related to the quantity of food available for household's consumption. Food seeking is a strategy of acquiring food through socially unacceptable ways and food anxiety is a strategy that indicates households allocating money to buy staple food in order to prevent food insecurity. Each coping strategy showed a different level of perceived severity, that is, less severe, quite severe, severe and very severe. In conclusion, the qualitative data provide valuable information for understanding the experiences of food insecurity that can be used as a basis to develop direct indicators that can capture the core behaviours and their level of severity to measure household food insecurity.
Qualitative study on identification of common coping strategies practised by Indigenous Peoples (Orang Asli) in Peninsular Malaysia during periods of food insecurity

Law LS, Norhasmah S, Gan WY, Mohd Nasir MT

Public Health Nutr, 2018 Oct;21(15):2819-2830.
PMID: 29976262 DOI: 10.1017/S136898001800160X

OBJECTIVE: To examine the types of coping strategies practised by Indigenous women or Orang Asli (OA) in Peninsular Malaysia during times of food shortage and to determine the level of severity for food insecurity that will trigger each specific coping strategy.
DESIGN: A qualitative case study was conducted. Pertinent information about each type of coping strategy was gathered by in-depth interviews. To gauge the level of severity for each of the coping strategies, focus group discussions (FGD) were held. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.
SETTING: OA villages in the states of Kelantan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor, Malaysia.
SUBJECTS: Sixty-one OA women from three ethnic groups (Senoi, Proto-Malay and Negrito) for in-depth interviews and nineteen OA women from the Proto-Malay ethnic group for three FGD.
RESULTS: The findings identified twenty-nine different coping strategies and these were divided into two main themes: food consumption (sub-themes of food consumption included dietary changes, diversification of food sources, decreasing the number of people and rationing) and financial management (sub-themes of financial management included increasing household income, reducing expenses for schooling children and reducing expenses on daily necessities). Three levels of severity were derived: less severe, severe and very severe.
CONCLUSIONS: This information would enable local authorities or non-governmental organisations to more precisely target and plan interventions to better aid the OA communities needing assistance in the areas of food sources and financial management.
Fulltext Obesity indices predict hypertension among indigenous adults in Krau Wildlife Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia

Chua EY, Zalilah MS, Haemamalar K, Norhasmah S, Geeta A

J Health Popul Nutr, 2017 05 25;36(1):24.
PMID: 28545536 DOI: 10.1186/s41043-017-0102-4

BACKGROUND: The disease burden of indigenous peoples has been augmented by the rising prevalence of obesity and hypertension in this population. This study assessed the ability of obesity indices to predict hypertension among indigenous adults of Peninsular Malaysia.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 482 adults (223 men, 259 women) aged ≥18 years old were measured for body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-height ratio (WHtR), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and blood pressure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the predictive ability of obesity indices for hypertension in men and women. Gender-specific logistic regression analyses were done to examine the association between obesity, defined by BMI, WC, WHtR and WHR, and hypertension.
RESULTS: Prevalence of hypertension was 25.5%. Overall, WHtR was the best predictor of the presence of hypertension, in both men and women. The optimal WHtR cut-off values for hypertension were 0.45 and 0.52 in men and women, respectively. Obese adults with WHtR ≥0.5 had about two times increased odds of having hypertension compared to non-obese adults.
CONCLUSIONS: WHtR may serve as a simple and inexpensive screening tool to identify individuals with hypertension in this relatively difficult to reach population.
Fulltext Double-burden of malnutrition among the indigenous peoples (Orang Asli) of Peninsular Malaysia

Wong CY, Zalilah MS, Chua EY, Norhasmah S, Chin YS, Siti Nur'Asyura A

BMC Public Health, 2015;15:680.
PMID: 26194643 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2058-x

Double-burden of malnutrition (DBM) is an emerging public health concern among the Orang Asli (indigenous peoples) of Peninsular Malaysia. This study aimed to identify the presence of DBM at the community and household levels in Orang Asli population and its associated demographic and socio-economic factors.
Fulltext The Identification of the Factors Related to Household Food Insecurity among Indigenous People (Orang Asli) in Peninsular Malaysia under Traditional Food Systems

Law LS, Norhasmah S, Gan WY, Siti Nur'Asyura A, Mohd Nasir MT

Nutrients, 2018 Oct 08;10(10).
PMID: 30297599 DOI: 10.3390/nu10101455

Over the course of 16 years, a high percentage of Orang Asli (OA) households in Malaysia has been found to be burdened with food insecurity. Therefore, a study was conducted to improve the understanding of the challenges faced by the OA in Peninsular Malaysia to achieve food security under traditional food systems. In this study, in-depth interview sessions, which were assisted by an interview protocol, were conducted with 61 OA women from nine villages that were selected purposefully across three states (Kelantan, Pahang, and Perak) in Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, thematic analysis was performed during data analysis. As a result, four themes were identified, namely (i) the failure in agriculture (sub-themes: threats from wild animals and insufficient land supply), (ii) ineffectiveness of traditional food-seeking activities (sub-themes: exhausting, tiring, dangerous, and time-consuming journey for food-seeking activities, depletion of natural commodities, reduced demands of natural commodities, and lack of equipment), (iii) weather (sub-themes: rainy and dry seasons), and (iv) water issues (subthemes: continuity of water supply and cleanliness of water). The identified modifiable factors of this issue should be incorporated into future schemes of food security intervention in order to efficiently manage the food shortage among the OA.