Impact of the National Food Supplementary Program for Children on Household Food Security and Maternal Weight Status in Iran

Food aid programs are strategies that aim to improve nutritional status and to tackle food insecurity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a National Food Supplementary Program for Children on households’ food security.
The study sample included 359 mothers of children aged 6–72 months under the coverage of the program in two provinces of Iran. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the households and percentage of supplementary food items consumed by target child were assessed by a questionnaire and checklist. Data on household food security were collected by locally adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale at the baseline of the study and 6 months thereafter.
At the baseline, only 4.7% of families were food secure, while 43.5% were severely food insecure, and these proportions were changed to 7.9% and 38%, respectively (P 0.05).
Findings show that the food supplementary program for children can also improve the household food security status. Further research is needed to assess other factors that affect the effectiveness of this kind of programs.