Objective

To determine the prevalence of food insecurity among families living in the municipality of Queimadas and its association with socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

Methods

Cross-sectional study involving 204 families living in the municipality of Queimadas, state of Paraíba, Brazil, attended at public primary health care services and with small children in the family core. Food security was assessed by the Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity. The association between food insecurity and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of families was studied using a logistic regression model.

Results

The application of the scale revealed that 65.4 % of families suffered from food insecurity, being 8.4 % mild, 18.5 % moderate and 38.5 % severe. High prevalences of food insecurity were found in families not receiving social program and in precarious conditions related to sanitation (no toilet inside houses, without toilet flushing, consumption of untreated water, open sewage).

Conclusions

The present study shows that more than half of the families with young children living in the city of Queimadas, served in public primary health services, live in a state of food insecurity and that socioeconomic characteristics are determinant of this state.