Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Letters

Consider the full spectrum of household food insecurity

Peter D. Wong, Sharon H. Thadani, Laura L. Brown and Rosemary G. Moodie
CMAJ January 07, 2019 191 (1) E20; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.69952
Peter D. Wong
Associate professor, Division of Paediatric Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sharon H. Thadani
Research assistant, TARGetKids!, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Laura L. Brown
Assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rosemary G. Moodie
Associate professor, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Public policy positions breastfeeding as a key strategy to protect vulnerable children from household food insecurity.1,2 Using data from a Canadian population-representative survey, Orr and colleagues report that household food insecurity negatively affects the duration of exclusive breastfeeding.3 They show that mothers with severe household food insecurity breastfeed for a significantly shorter time than mothers in food-secure households or in marginally and moderately food-insecure households. However, among Inuit mothers in Canada with a high prevalence of household food insecurity, this difference does not seem to be apparent.4

In emerging nations, widespread poverty often results in extreme household food insecurity, which, in contrast to households in developed nations, may lead to exclusive breastfeeding by way of “last resort exclusive breastfeeding.”5 Mothers practise exclusive breastfeeding because they have no alternative food source for their infants.5 Nevertheless, they may have perceptions of breast milk insufficiency and feelings of weakness.6 These polar differences may reflect the spectrum for household food insecurity, from marginal to severe and extreme, that may not be captured in categorical data collection.

The findings of Orr and colleagues reinforce prior impressions that a breastfeeding paradox exists, whereby “women who can least afford to buy infant formula and whose infants can benefit most from the health-promoting qualities of breast milk are the least likely to breastfeed.”1,2 Recognition of the full spectrum of household food insecurity needs incorporation into policies and programs that may strengthen food security and support mother and child nutrition.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: None declared.

References

  1. ↵
    1. Venu I,
    2. van den Heuvel M,
    3. Wong JP,
    4. et al
    . The breastfeeding paradox: relevance for household food insecurity. Paediatr Child Health 2017;22: 180–3.
    OpenUrl
  2. ↵
    1. Frank L
    . The breastfeeding paradox: a critique of policy related to infant food insecurity in Canada. Food Cult Soc 2015;18:107–29.
    OpenUrl
  3. ↵
    1. Orr SK,
    2. Dachner N,
    3. Frank L,
    4. et al
    . Relation between household food insecurity and breastfeeding in Canada. CMAJ 2018;190:E312–9.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  4. ↵
    1. McIsaac KE,
    2. Stock DC,
    3. Lou W
    . Household food security and breast-feeding duration among Canadian Inuit. Public Health Nutr 2017;20: 64–71.
    OpenUrl
  5. ↵
    1. Lesorogol C,
    2. Bond C,
    3. Dulience SJL,
    4. et al
    . Economic determinants of breastfeeding in Haiti: The effects of poverty, food insecurity, and employment on exclusive breastfeeding in an urban population. Matern Child Nutr 2018;14: e12524.
    OpenUrl
  6. ↵
    1. Webb-Girard A,
    2. Cherobon A,
    3. Mbugua S,
    4. et al
    . Food insecurity is associated with attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding among women in urban Kenya. Matern Child Nutr 2012;8: 199–214.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 191 (1)
CMAJ
Vol. 191, Issue 1
7 Jan 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Consider the full spectrum of household food insecurity
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Consider the full spectrum of household food insecurity
Peter D. Wong, Sharon H. Thadani, Laura L. Brown, Rosemary G. Moodie
CMAJ Jan 2019, 191 (1) E20; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.69952

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Consider the full spectrum of household food insecurity
Peter D. Wong, Sharon H. Thadani, Laura L. Brown, Rosemary G. Moodie
CMAJ Jan 2019, 191 (1) E20; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.69952
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • An expanded role for blood donor emerging pathogens surveillance
  • Beyond wastewater surveillance: refining environmental pathogen detection in the built environment
  • Observational evidence in support of screening for depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
  • Accessibiity
  • CMA Civility Standards
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

Powered by HighWire