The Relationship between Food Insecurity and Some Socio-Economic Factors in Patients Referring to Diabetes Clinic of Buali Hospital in Zahedan

Background: There is a close relationship between food insecurity and diabetes. It has been shown that some socio-economic factors can affect Type I diabetes. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and some socio-economic factors with type 2 diabetes in patients referring to Diabetes Clinic of Buali Hospital in Zahedan city. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 450 patients with type 2 diabetes as the case group and 450 similar participants without diabetes as the control group in 2021. The data were collected for the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and food insecurity by the 18-item USDA household food security questionnaire. Results: The results showed that food insecurity was significantly higher in case group (7.27±5.25) compared to the control group (6.44±5.82). Participants with higher income had lower food insecurity (P=0.0001). Married participants had higher food security compared to other status in both groups (P=0.0001). Individuals with higher education had better food security and diabetic individuals had lower education compared to healthy people (P=0.001). Employee and housewife in case group had higher food security compared to participants with other jobs (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Food insecurity was higher in diabetic patients and socio-economic factors had a close relation with food insecurity. Policy makers must consider strategies for improving socio-economic factors in Zahedan city.