Iraqi refugees in Lebanon are vulnerable to food insecurity because of their limited rights and fragile livelihoods. The objective of the present study was to assess household food insecurity among Iraqi refugees living in Lebanon, almost 10 years after the invasion of Iraq. A representative survey of 800 UN High Commissioner for Refugees-registered refugee households in Lebanon was conducted using multi-stage cluster random sampling. We measured food insecurity using a modified US Department of Agriculture household food security module. We collected data on household demographic, socio-economic, health, housing and dietary diversity status and analysed these factors by food security status. Hb level was measured in a subset of children below 5 years of age (n 85). Weighted data were used in univariate and multivariate analyses. Among the Iraqi refugee households surveyed (n 630), 20·1 % (95 % CI 17·3, 23·2) were found to be food secure, 35·5 % (95 % CI 32·0, 39·2) moderately food insecure and 44·4 % (95 % CI 40·8, 48·1) severely food insecure. Severe food insecurity was associated with the respondent's good self-reported health (OR 0·3, 95 % CI 0·2, 0·5), length of stay as a refugee (OR 1·1, 95 % CI 1·0, 1·2), very poor housing quality (OR 3·3, 95 % CI 1·6, 6·5) and the number of children in the household (OR 1·2, 95 % CI 1·0, 1·4), and resulted in poor dietary diversity (P< 0·0001). Anaemia was found in 41 % (95 % CI 30·6, 51·9) of children below 5 years of age, but was not associated with food insecurity. High food insecurity, low diet quality and high prevalence of anaemia in Iraqi refugees living in Lebanon call for urgent programmes to address the food and health situation of this population with restricted rights. Copyright © The Authors 2014.

Household food insecurity Refugees Iraqi children

household hypercholesterolemia refugee Iraqi demography hemoglobin blood level health survey poverty named inventories, questionnaires and rating scales Household Dietary Diversity Score human Iraqi (people) Refugees family coping war diabetes mellitus Stress, Psychological ethnic group Iraq Food Supply health status diet housing hypertension food quality acute disease nutritional assessment family health Time Factors Data collection method chronic disease family size controlled study Family Characteristics Cross-Sectional Studies Lebanon social status cross-sectional study anemia Anemia, Iron-Deficiency Adolescent Humans male female Socioeconomic Factors Infant socioeconomics prevalence food assistance Article adult food security Public Housing ischemic heart disease correlational study hemoglobin food insecurity food intake family assessment Diet Surveys nutritional status Child