Household food insecurity and food expenditure in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, And the Philippines

Measuring household food security: the global experience

Measuring household food insecurity represents a challenge due to the complexity and wide array of factors associated with this phenomenon. For over one decade, researchers and agencies throughout the world have been using and assessing the validity of variations of the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Supplemental Module. Thanks to numerous studies of diverse design, size, and purpose, the Household Food Security Supplemental Module has shown its suitability to directly evaluate the perceptions of individuals on their food security status. In addition, challenges and limitations are becoming clearer and new research questions are emerging as the process advances. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, validation procedures, and use of the Household Food Security Supplemental Module in very diverse settings. The most common Household Food Security Supplemental Module related studies have been conducted using criterion validity, Rasch modeling and Cronbach-Alpha Coefficient. It is critical that researchers, policy makers, governmental and non-governmental agencies intensify their efforts to further develop tools that provide valid and reliable measures of food security in diverse population groups. Additional work is needed to synthesize a universally applicable tool able to capture the global human phenomenon of food insecurity.

Percepção e compreensão dos conceitos contidos na Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, em comunidades indígenas no estado do Amazonas, Brasil

OBJETIVO: Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a percepção e a compreensão de conceitos e terminologia da segurança e insegurança alimentar, especialmente os que compõem a Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, no contexto da realidade sócio-cultural indígena. MÉTODOS: Foram utilizados recursos de pesquisa qualitativa para a abordagem das comunidades indígenas Cacau, Flexeira e Mamori, situadas na bacia hidrográfica do Médio Juruá, nos municípios de Envira e Eirunepé (AM), baseando-se em metodologia já previamente utilizada no Brasil e adaptada ao presente contexto, em uma reunião com especialistas da área. Em seguida foram organizados grupos focais, com 18 participantes das três comunidades indígenas. RESULTADOS: A fome apareceu como situação vivenciada por muitos dos participantes dos grupos focais das três comunidades estudadas. Os conceitos e as terminologias como segurança alimentar, fome e comida boa foram bem compreendidos, no entanto, comida variada, comida suficiente e estratégia para evitar problemas com comida foram conceitos não compreendidos por eles. A rotina de vida desses povos baseia-se nas relações familiares que permitem trocas, diferindo de outros grupos focais da área urbana e rural, conduzidos como parte da validação da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, nos quais a dificuldade de acesso aos alimentos era conseqüência da falta de recursos financeiros. CONCLUSÃO: São necessários novos e aprofundados estudos, qualitativos e quantitativos, para o desenvolvimento de um instrumento de mensuração de insegurança alimentar que reflita a realidade desses povos, ao mesmo tempo em que busquem fornecer resultados comparáveis com aqueles de outros povos indígenas e mesmo os obtidos pela Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar em outras populações. Será necessário um instrumento que contemple a questão da troca, o aspecto coletivo, a importância e o uso do ambiente nas experiências de segurança ou insegurança alimentar. Sugere-se ainda que, para estudos quantitativos, o questionário deva ser mais resumido e simples.

Internal validity of a household food security scale is consistent among diverse populations participating in a food supplement program in Colombia

Objective

We assessed the validity of a locally adapted Colombian Household Food Security Scale (CHFSS) used as a part of the 2006 evaluation of the food supplement component of the Plan for Improving Food and Nutrition in Antioquia, Colombia (MANA – Plan Departamental de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional de Antioquia).

Methods

Subjects included low-income families with pre-school age children in MANA that responded affirmatively to at least one CHFSS item (n = 1,319). Rasch Modeling was used to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the items through measure and INFIT values. Differences in CHFSS performance were assessed by area of residency, socioeconomic status and number of children enrolled in MANA. Unidimensionality of a scale by group was further assessed using Differential Item Functioning (DIF).

Results

Most CHFSS items presented good fitness with most INFIT values within the adequate range of 0.8 to 1.2. Consistency in item measure values between groups was found for all but two items in the comparison by area of residency. Only two adult items exhibited DIF between urban and rural households.

Conclusion

The results indicate that the adapted CHFSS is a valid tool to assess the household food security of participants in food assistance programs like MANA.

Gender of respondent does not affect the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Household Food Security Scale

BACKGROUND

Food insecurity is a major public concern that occurs when nutritional needs are not met, incorporates psychological and physiological coping mechanisms, and can range from basic concern over obtaining food to severe malnutrition. This study was performed to explore differences in female and male respondent psychometric characteristics of a locally adapted Brazilian Household Food Security Scale (Escala Brasileira de Medida da Insegurança Alimentar--EBIA).

METHODS

The 16-item EBIA was incorporated into the 2004 Brazilian National Household Sample Survey 2004 (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios--PNAD; n = 108 606). Rasch Modelling was used to evaluate survey one-dimensionality, construct and independence through analysis of infit and relative item severities of adult and children items by gender. Differences in estimated item severities between male and female respondents were assessed using Differential Item Functioning (DIF) models.

RESULTS

The scale presented good fitness and most item infit values were within adequate range (0.8-1.2), being practically identical when comparing female and male responses. Both female and male respondents presented similar relative item severities for adult and children items and followed the same pattern of increasing relative item severities with each item in the questionnaire. None of the items presented substantial DIF.

CONCLUSIONS

This research demonstrates that the psychometric properties of the EBIA are not affected by respondent gender in Brazil. The results of this study support the validity of the proposed scale, suggesting that the scale will provide accurate information regardless of respondent gender for governments, researchers and agencies concerned with reducing epidemic levels of food insecurity and the resulting health disparities.

Seasonal changes in household food insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression

There is growing awareness that common mental health disorders are key contributors to the burden of disease in developing countries. Studies examining the correlates of mental health have primarily been carried out in urban settings and focused on the burden rapid economic change places on individuals. In these settings, poverty and low education are consistent predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms. We argue here that these variables are proxies for insecurity, and that a more general model of symptoms of depression and anxiety should focus on locally salient forms of insecurity. Building on previous work in a seasonal subsistence setting, we identify food insecurity as a potent source of insecurity in a rural African setting, and then test whether seasonal changes in food insecurity are correlated with concomitant changes in a measure of symptoms of anxiety and depression among 173 caretakers. Results indicate that food insecurity is a strong predictor of symptoms of anxiety and depression (P < 0.0001), that changes in food insecurity across the seasons predict changes in symptoms of anxiety and depression (P < 0.0001), and that this is robust to the inclusion of covariates for material assets and household production. These results hold for individuals in both ethnic groups studied (Pimbwe and Sukuma); however, at the group level the burden falls disproportionately on Pimbwe. The results add to the growing literature on the causes of population level differences in mental health disorders and suggest new research avenues and strategies to link mental health disorders with variation in physical and biosocial outcomes.

Food insecurity is highly prevalent and predicts underweight but not overweight in adults and school children from Bogotá, Colombia

The aims of this study were to determine the sociodemographic and dietary correlates of household and child food insecurity in Bogotá, Colombia and to examine whether food insecurity is a risk factor for underweight or overweight in this population. We analyzed data from 2359 families with 2526 children 5-12 y of age who completed a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2006. The survey was representative of low- and middle-income families who had children enrolled in the public primary school system of Bogotá. We used a 16-item food insecurity scale, modified from the United States Household Food Security Survey Module, assessed children's dietary intake with a FFQ, and measured their height and weight. Mothers' anthropometry was obtained through self-report. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% CI from binomial regression models. Household food insecurity with hunger and child food insecurity were each positively associated with maternal age, parity, and single parent status and inversely related to mean household income and number of home assets. Animal protein and snack food intake were inversely related to child food insecurity. In multivariate analyses, food-insecure children were 3 times more likely to be underweight than food-secure children (95% CI = 1.6, 5.4; P = 0.0007). Hunger in the household was significantly associated with maternal underweight. Food insecurity was not related to child stunting, child overweight, or maternal overweight. The prevalence of food insecurity in Bogotá is high and related to poverty. Food insecurity does not necessarily predict overweight in countries undergoing the nutrition transition.

Gender bias in the food insecurity experience of Ethiopian adolescents

Food insecurity is a pressing public health concern in many developing countries. Despite widespread interest in the sociocultural determinants of food insecurity, little is known about whether youths living in food insecure households experience food insecurity. The buffering hypothesis reviewed here assumes that, to the extent possible, adult members of households will buffer younger household members from the ill effects of food insecurity. A variant of the buffering hypothesis argues that only certain members of the households will enjoy the benefits of buffering. We hypothesize that within the context of Ethiopia, where girls have historically experienced discrimination, buffering is preferentially aimed at boys, especially as the household experiences greater levels of food stress. These hypotheses are tested using data from a population-based study of 2084 adolescents living in southwestern Ethiopia. Results indicate that boys and girls were equally likely to be living in severely food insecure households. Despite no differences in their households' food insecurity status, girls were more likely than boys to report being food insecure themselves. This gender difference was the largest in severely food insecure households. This same pattern was observed when comparing male-female sibling pairs living in the same household. These results are among the first to show that household level measures of food insecurity predict adolescent experiences of food insecurity, and that in the Ethiopian socio-cultural context, the relationship between household level food insecurity and adolescent food insecurity varies by gender. We also show that adolescent food insecurity is strongly associated with measures of general health and well-being.

Food-Poverty Status and Food Insecurity in Rural West Lombok Based on Mothers' Food Expenditure Equivalency

Background

When the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) developed a national food-poverty line for Indo- nesia, some aspects, such as food availability, food beliefs, and food habits, were not considered. In addition, the reference population was determined on the basis of their nonfood expenditures.

Objective

To develop and use a method applicable in any given sociocultural setting, as well as to determine food-poverty status in rural West Lombok, Indonesia, using mothers' food expenditure equivalency (FEE).

Method

Mothers' actual food intake determined by a modified 24-hour recall served to establish FEE. The results were verified with household food-security meas- ures based on the US Household Food Security/Hunger Measurement (US HFSSM), and the mothers' nutritional status was assessed by the body-mass index (BMI).

Results

Most mothers (72%) were food-poor and 79% were also food-insecure. Food poverty has a positive correlation with household food insecurity. The severely food poor also had the highest risk of household food insecurity. The nutritional status of mothers showed no correlation with food-poverty status and therefore was not found to be an appropriate indicator of food poverty in this cultural setting.

Conclusions

Because most food consumed by moth- ers was purchased, financial security plays a key role in determining family food sufficiency, in terms of both quantity and variety. Mothers' BMI status differed between the food-poor and non–food-poor groups, but the difference was not statistically significant, suggesting that in our setting the food-poverty line cannot be used to identify physiological need but is rather more of a social and economic indicator. We suggest the use of US HFSSM questionnaires as a simple alternative means to assess both food-poverty and food-security status, mainly because the method is simple to apply and corroborates our findings using area-specific FEEs. Finally, our study results suggest a number of follow-up investigations.

Psychometric properties of a modified US-household food security survey module in Campinas, Brazil

OBJECTIVE

To assess the internal validity of a multiple-item measure of household food security in Brazil using statistical methods based on the single-parameter logistic (Rasch) measurement model.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

Sample of the non-institutionalized civilian population living in the municipality of Campinas selected using stratified cluster sampling. Of the 1000 households randomly chosen, 847 responded to the interview. Responses to each of the 15 questions were coded into dichotomous items indicating whether the specific food-insecure condition had occurred (other than in just 1 or 2 days) during the 3 months before the survey. Scaling analyses were conducted separately as well as jointly for adult/household-related items and child-related items. Item-fit statistics were examined to determine the extent to which the items appear to measure the same underlying phenomenon, and item severity scores were compared with those of equivalent items in the US Current Population Survey.

CONCLUSIONS

Except for one item, infit statistics were within a range considered adequate (0.80-1.2), indicating a common phenomenon being measured with approximately equal discrimination. The relative severities of the items in the Campinas survey were generally similar to those of equivalent items in the US Current Population Survey. Analysis of all 15 items together indicates a higher severity level for child-related items compared with equivalent adult-related items.

Measuring household food insecurity: why it's so important and yet so difficult to do

Food insecurity is a daily reality for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Although its most extreme manifestations are often obvious, many other households facing constraints in their access to food are less identifiable. Operational agencies lack a method for differentiating households at varying degrees of food insecurity in order to target and evaluate their interventions. This chapter provides an overview of a set of papers associated with a research initiative that seeks to identify more precise, yet simple, measures of household food insecurity. The overview highlights three main conceptual developments associated with practical approaches to measuring constraints in access to food: 1) a shift from using measures of food availability and utilization to measuring "inadequate access"; 2) a shift from a focus on objective to subjective measures; and 3) a growing emphasis on fundamental measurement as opposed to reliance on distal, proxy measures. Further research is needed regarding 1) how well measures of household food insecurity designed for chronically food-insecure contexts capture the processes leading to, and experience of, acute food insecurity, 2) the impact of short-term shocks, such as major floods or earthquake, on household behaviors that determine responses to food security questions, 3) better measurement of the interaction between severity and frequency of household food insecurity behaviors, and 4) the determination of whether an individual's response to survey questions can be representative of the food insecurity experiences of all members of the household.