Measuring household food security: the global experience

Fatores demográficos e socioambientais associados à insegurança alimentar domiciliar nos diferentes territórios da cidade de Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

O objetivo deste estudo foi apresentar a prevalência da insegurança alimentar domiciliar em diferentes territórios da cidade de Salvador, Bahia, Brasil, e analisar fatores demográficos e socioambientais a ela associados. Os dados utilizados são de uma pesquisa maior denominada Qualidade do Ambiente Urbano de Salvador - QUALISalvador, realizada entre 2018 e 2020 em Salvador. A insegurança alimentar foi avaliada por meio da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar. Foram analisados 15.171 domicílios. Modelos de regressão logística multinominal foram utilizados para analisar a associação de variáveis demográficas e socioambientais com insegurança alimentar leve (IAL) e moderada ou grave (IAMG), para Salvador e macrozonas. Salvador apresentou 40,96% de insegurança alimentar. Nas macrozonas, as prevalências se diferenciaram: Orla Atlântica (25,8%), Área Urbana Consolidada (33%), Subúrbio (45,7%) e Miolo (47,9%). Todos os fatores analisados apresentaram associação com IAL e/ou IAMG no modelo para Salvador, entre eles estão o responsável pelo domicílio ter escolaridade ≤ 4 anos (IAL: OR = 2,00; IC95%: 1.61-2,47/IAMG: OR = 4,94; IC95%: 3,83-6,35), renda familiar per capita de até 1/2 salário mínimo (IAL: OR = 2,62; IC95%: 2,37-2,93/IAMG: OR = 4,03; IC95%: 3,53-4,60), percepção sobre a qualidade do ambiente urbano como ruim (IAL: OR = 1,57; IC95%: 1,36-1,81/IAMG: OR = 2,03; IC95%: 1,73-2,38), com maior prevalência de insegurança alimentar em cenários de pior situação sociodemográfica. Na macrozona Miolo todos os fatores também se mantiveram associados à insegurança alimentar. Assim, os fatores de vulnerabilidade social estão associados à insegurança alimentar na capital e macrozonas, mas apresentam-se de formas especificas segundo características de cada território.

Association between food insecurity and cardiometabolic risk in adults and the elderly: A systematic review

Background

Food insecurity is a public health concern that affects health and quality of life, but its association with cardiometabolic risk is not well established. Thus, this systematic review evaluated the association between food insecurity and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults and the elderly.

Methods

Search was conducted according to the PRISMA protocol using Scielo, LILACS and PubMed databases. We included original articles published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, which assessed the association between food insecurity and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults and the elderly. The search identified 877 articles but only 11 were included in the review.

Results

Food insecurity was directly associated with cardiometabolic risk (excess weight, hypertension, dyslipidemias, diabetes, and stress) after adjusting for interfering factors. A limitation of the cross-sectional study design is that the cause-effect relation between food insecurity and cardiometabolic risk cannot be established.

Conclusions

We conclude that food insecurity has a direct relationship with cardiometabolic risk factors, especially excess weight, hypertension, and dyslipidemias. The identification of food insecurity as health problems can contribute to the implementation of efficient public policies for the prevention and control of chronic diseases.

Protocol registration

This review was registered on PROSPERO-International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews – CRD4201911549.

Perspective: The Importance of Water Security for Ensuring Food Security, Good Nutrition, and Well-being

Water security is a powerful concept that is still in its early days in the field of nutrition. Given the prevalence and severity of water issues and the many interconnections between water and nutrition, we argue that water security deserves attention commensurate with its importance to human nutrition and health. To this end, we first give a brief introduction to water insecurity and discuss its conceptualization in terms of availability, access, use, and stability. We then lay out the empirical grounding for its assessment. Parallels to the food-security literature are drawn throughout, both because the concepts are analogous and food security is familiar to the nutrition community. Specifically, we review the evolution of scales to measure water and food security and compare select characteristics. We then review the burgeoning evidence for the causes and consequences of water insecurity and conclude with 4 recommendations: 1) collect more water-insecurity data (i.e., on prevalence, causes, consequences, and intervention impacts); 2) collect better data on water insecurity (i.e., measure it concurrently with food security and other nutritional indicators, measure intrahousehold variation, and establish baseline indicators of both water and nutrition before interventions are implemented); 3) consider food and water issues jointly in policy and practice (e.g., establish linkages and possibilities for joint interventions, recognize the environmental footprint of nutritional guidelines, strengthen the nutrition sensitivity of water-management practices, and use experience-based scales for improving governance and regulation across food and water systems); and 4) make findings easily available so that they can be used by the media, community organizations, and other scientists for advocacy and in governance (e.g., tracking progress towards development goals and holding implementers accountable). As recognition of the importance of water security grows, we hope that so too will the prioritization of water in nutrition research, funding, and policy.

["Measuring hunger": psychometric scales of food insecurity and indigenous peoples in Brazil]

The Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA) was validated for the Brazilian context in 2004. Since then, the scale has evaluated and measured the experience of food insecurity in rural and urban households, initially in the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey and later in the Brazilian National Survey of Demographic and Health. However, indigenous peoples have not been examined specifically in these surveys, despite recognition of their food and nutritional vulnerability. In this scenario, we analyze and discuss the application of the EBIA among indigenous peoples in Brazil, based on a set of fundamental questions for understanding and measuring their experience with food insecurity and "hunger". We conduct a sociopolitical and ethnographic analysis of a set of official documents and significant articles on the use of psychometric scales of food insecurity among Brazilian indigenous peoples, compared to international studies on the validation and application of scales in other sociocultural contexts. The initiatives with adaptation and application of the EBIA to indigenous peoples in Brazil indicate that understanding and measuring food insecurity in these peoples poses a major challenge. Particularly complex is the proposal to guarantee comparability of different contexts while taking into account the multiple local singularities. We propose that ethnographic studies should serve as specific components of future initiatives on this topic and that they should cover aspects such as the seasonality of indigenous peoples' food production, different processes of food monetization, and the dynamics of their food systems.

Measuring and Understanding Food Insecurity in Australia: A Systematic Review

The number of Australians seeking food aid has increased in recent years; however, the current variability in the measurement of food insecurity means that the prevalence and severity of food insecurity in Australia is likely underreported. This is compounded by infrequent national health surveys that measure food insecurity, resulting in outdated population-level food insecurity data. This review sought to investigate the breadth of food insecurity research conducted in Australia to evaluate how this construct is being measured. A systematic review was conducted to collate the available Australian research. Fifty-seven publications were reviewed. Twenty-two used a single-item measure to examine food security status; 11 used the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM); two used the Radimer/Cornell instrument; one used the Household Food and Nutrition Security Survey (HFNSS); while the remainder used a less rigorous or unidentified method. A wide range in prevalence and severity of food insecurity in the community was reported; food insecurity ranged from 2% to 90%, depending on the measurement tool and population under investigation. Based on the findings of this review, the authors suggest that there needs to be greater consistency in measuring food insecurity, and that work is needed to create a measure of food insecurity tailored for the Australian context. Such a tool will allow researchers to gain a clear understanding of the prevalence of food insecurity in Australia to create better policy and practice responses.

Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer

Scale development and validation are critical to much of the work in the health, social, and behavioral sciences. However, the constellation of techniques required for scale development and evaluation can be onerous, jargon-filled, unfamiliar, and resource-intensive. Further, it is often not a part of graduate training. Therefore, our goal was to concisely review the process of scale development in as straightforward a manner as possible, both to facilitate the development of new, valid, and reliable scales, and to help improve existing ones. To do this, we have created a primer for best practices for scale development in measuring complex phenomena. This is not a systematic review, but rather the amalgamation of technical literature and lessons learned from our experiences spent creating or adapting a number of scales over the past several decades. We identified three phases that span nine steps. In the first phase, items are generated and the validity of their content is assessed. In the second phase, the scale is constructed. Steps in scale construction include pre-testing the questions, administering the survey, reducing the number of items, and understanding how many factors the scale captures. In the third phase, scale evaluation, the number of dimensions is tested, reliability is tested, and validity is assessed. We have also added examples of best practices to each step. In sum, this primer will equip both scientists and practitioners to understand the ontology and methodology of scale development and validation, thereby facilitating the advancement of our understanding of a range of health, social, and behavioral outcomes.

Escalas de percepção da insegurança alimentar validadas: a experiência dos países da América Latina e Caribe

Resumo Objetivou-se nesta revisão sistemática comparar as escalas de insegurança alimentar validadas e utilizadas nos países latino-americanos e caribenhos, e analisar os métodos empregados nos estudos de validação. Realizou-se busca nas bases eletrônicas Lilacs, SciELO e Medline. As publicações foram pré-selecionas pelos títulos e resumos, e posteriormente pela leitura integral. Dos 16.325 estudos revisados, selecionou-se 14. Foram identificadas 12 escalas validadas para os seguintes países: Venezuela, Brasil, Colômbia, Bolívia, Equador, Costa Rica, México, Haiti, República Dominicana, Argentina e Guatemala. Além dessas, tem-se a escala latino-americana e caribenha cuja abrangência é regional. As escalas variaram em relação ao padrão de referência utilizado, número de questões e diagnóstico da insegurança. Os métodos empregados pelos estudos para validação interna foi o cálculo do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach e o modelo Rasch; para validação externa os autores calcularam associação e/ou correlação com variáveis socioeconômicas e de consumo alimentar. A exitosa experiência da América Latina e Caribe no desenvolvimento de escalas nacionais e regionais pode ser exemplo para outros países que ainda não possuem esse importante indicador capaz de dimensionar o fenômeno da insegurança alimentar.

Insegurança alimentar no Brasil segundo diferentes cenários sociodemográficos

Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é apontar a prevalência de insegurança alimentar, assim como fatores associados, em diferentes cenários sociodemográficos no Brasil. Realizou-se revisão sistemática com metanálise de artigos publicados de 2004 a 2013 sobre Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional a partir da busca em bases de dados. Calculou-se a média ponderada da prevalência de insegurança alimentar e as Razões de Chances considerando a categorização dos artigos segundo a origem de suas amostras. A média ponderada da prevalência de insegurança alimentar para escolas/creches, serviços de saúde/beneficiários do Programa Bolsa Família e populações em iniquidades sociais foi, respectivamente, de 61,8%, 76,6% e 87,2%, com maiores Razões de Chances em relação aos estudos de base populacional e aos resultados da PNAD. A renda familiar, a quantidade de indivíduos no domicílio e o tipo de moradia foram as principais variáveis que apresentaram relação inversa significante com a insegurança alimentar. Os resultados evidenciam a determinação social da insegurança alimentar no Brasil.

Food security and the nutritional status of children in foster care: new horizons in the protection of a fragile population

BACKGROUND

The nutritional status of foster children, the quality of daily menus in group homes and the Food Security inside these organizations have been poorly studied and this study means to investigate them.

METHODS

A sample of 125 children, ranging in age from 0-17 years, among seven group homes (group A) was compared with 121 children of the general population we (group B). To evaluate nutritional status, BMI percentiles were used. Mean percentiles of both groups were compared through statistical analysis. Both nutritional and caloric daily distributions in each organization were obtained using the 24-hour recall method. A specific questionnaire was administered to evaluate Food Security.

RESULTS

From the analysis of mean BMI-for-age (or height-for-length) percentiles, did not observe statistically significant differences between group A and group B. The average daily nutrient and calorie distribution in group homes proves to be nearly optimal with the exception of a slight excess in proteins and a slight deficiency in PUFAs. Moreover, a low intake of iron and calcium was revealed. All organizations obtained a "High Food Security" profile.

CONCLUSIONS

Nutritional conditions of foster children are no worse than that of children of the general population. Foster care provides the necessary conditions to support their growth.

[Food insecurity and anthropometric, dietary and social indicators in Brazilian studies: a systematic review]

The scope of this systematic review was to relate food insecurity, detected using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA), with anthropometric, dietary and social indicators. The search was conducted in electronic databases (ScieLO, LILACS, MEDLINE), with a selection of studies by titles and abstracts, and later full reading. Studies identified in bibliographic references were included. Of the 215 reviewed, 15 fulfilled inclusion criteria (association between insecurity and anthropometric, dietary or social indicators, detected by the EBIA), whereby three had more than one variable of interest. A relationship was observed between food insecurity and height/age and weight/age of child indices, as well as obesity in women. Lower consumption of regulating, tissue-building food products and iron, and higher carbohydrate intake are associated with food insecurity. There was a relationship between social indicators, such as lower income and education, lack of employment and basic sanitation. The EBIA was associated in some studies with nutritional and social indicators, but should be used in conjunction with other tools in order to cover the multiple dimensions of food and nutrition security.

Household food insecurity, diet, and weight status in a disadvantaged district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: a cross-sectional study

Background

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, economic and socially acceptable access to safe, sufficient, and adequately nutritious food in order to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life. For high income countries and those experiencing the nutrition transition, food security is not only about the quantity of available food but also the nutritional quality as related to over- and under-nutrition. Vietnam is currently undergoing this nutrition transition, and as a result the relationship between food insecurity, socio-demographic factors and weight status is complex. The primary objective of this study was to therefore measure the prevalence of household food insecurity in a disadvantaged urban district in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam using a more comprehensive tool. This study also aims to examine the relationships between food insecurity and socio-demographic factors, weight status, and food intakes.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using multi-stage sampling. Adults who were mainly responsible for cooking were interviewed in 250 households. Data was collected on socioeconomic and demographic factors using previously validated tools. Food security was assessed using the Latin American and Caribbean Household Food Security Scale (ELCSA) tool and households were categorized as food secure or mildly, moderately or severely food insecure. Questions regarding food intake were based on routinely used and validated questions in HCMC, weight status was self-reported.

Results

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.87, showing the ELCSA had a good internal reliability. Approximately 34.4% of households were food insecure. Food insecurity was inversely related to total household income (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.04 - 0.22) and fruit intakes (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.31 - 4.22). There was no association between weight and food security status.

Conclusions

Despite rapid industrialization and modernization, food insecurity remains an important public health issue in large urban areas of HCMC, suggesting that strategies to address food insecurity should be implemented in urban settings, and not just rural locations. Fruit consumption among food insecure households may be compromised because of financial difficulties, which may lead to poorer health outcomes particularly related to non-communicable disease prevention and management.

Validity and reliability of food security measures

This paper reviews some of the existing food security indicators, discussing the validity of the underlying concept and the expected reliability of measures under reasonably feasible conditions. The main objective of the paper is to raise awareness on existing trade-offs between different qualities of possible food security measurement tools that must be taken into account when such tools are proposed for practical application, especially for use within an international monitoring framework. The hope is to provide a timely, useful contribution to the process leading to the definition of a food security goal and the associated monitoring framework within the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Insegurança alimentar em domicílios brasileiros com crianças menores de cinco anos

Este artigo se propõe a estudar o processo de insegurança alimentar e fome em domicílios brasileiros com crianças menores de cinco anos. É um estudo transversal com representatividade nacional executado com dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde da Criança e da Mulher (PNDS-2006) tendo como variável dependente a insegurança alimentar moderada e grave (IAM+G), medida através da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar (EBIA). Foram geradas estimativas de prevalência e razão de prevalência com intervalos de 95% de confiança. Os resultados apontam para alta prevalência de IAM+G concentrada nas regiões Norte e Nordeste (30,7%), nas classes econômicas D e E (34%) e em beneficiários de Programas de Transferência de Renda (PTR; 36,5%). O modelo de análise multivariada constatou que os riscos sociais (beneficiário de PTR), regionais (Norte e Nordeste) e econômicos (classes D e E) eram de 1,8, 2,0 e 2,4, respectivamente. Agregando-se os três riscos observou-se que 48% dos domicílios encontravam-se em IAM+G, ou seja, crianças e adultos passaram fome nos três meses anteriores ao inquérito.

Validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale in rural Lebanon

OBJECTIVE

To assess the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) in rural Lebanon.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study on a sample of households with at least one child aged 0-2 years. In a one-to-one interview, participants completed an adapted Arabic version of the HFIAS. In order to evaluate the validity of the HFIAS, basic sociodemographic information, anthropometric measurements of the mother and child, and dietary intake data of the child were obtained. In order to examine reproducibility, the HFIAS was re-administered after 3 months.

SETTING

Rural Lebanon.

SUBJECTS

Mother and child pairs (n 150).

RESULTS

Factor analysis of HFIAS items revealed two factors: 'insufficient food quality' and 'insufficient food quantity'. Using Pearson's correlation, food insecurity was inversely associated with mother's and father's education levels, number of cars and electrical appliances in the household, income, weight-for-age and length-for-age of the child and the child's dietary adequacy. In contrast, mother's BMI and crowding index were positively associated with food insecurity scores (P < 0·05 for all correlations). Cronbach's α of the scale was 0·91. A moderate correlation was observed between the two administrations of the questionnaire (intra-class correlation = 0·58; P < 0·05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated that the adapted Arabic version of the HFIAS is a valid and reliable tool to assess food insecurity in rural Lebanon, lending further evidence to the utility of the HFIAS in assessing food insecurity in culturally diverse populations.

Seguranca alimentar, renda e Programa Bolsa Familia: estudo de coorte em municipios do interior da Paraiba, Brasil, 2005-2011

Este trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar o impacto do Programa Bolsa Família na superação da Insegurança Alimentar. Realizou-se um estudo de coorte em 2005 e 2011, em amostra de famílias residentes em São José dos Ramos e Nova Floresta, Paraíba, Brasil. Em 2005 foram avaliados 609 domicílios e em 2011 foram encontradas e entrevistadas 406 famílias. Houve aumento da segurança alimentar/insegurança alimentar leve e melhoria nos indicadores socioeconômicos. Percebeu-se uma relação significativa entre a elevação da renda e a melhoria dos níveis de Insegurança Alimentar. O programa impacta positivamente no aumento da renda, propiciando melhorias dos níveis de segurança alimentar/insegurança alimentar leve. Percebeu-se que outras variáveis socioeconômicas podem estar contribuindo na melhoria deste perfil. Diante disso, no combate à insegurança alimentar e nutricional, são necessárias outras políticas e programas que ajam nos demais determinantes.

Seguridad alimentaria, crecimiento y niveles de vitamina A, hemoglobina y zinc en niños preescolares del nordeste de Brasil

El presente estudio buscó analizar la asociación entre la (in)seguridad alimentaria y el estado nutricional de niños preescolares asistidos en jardines infantiles. La seguridad alimentaria fue evaluada a través de la Escala Brasileña de Inseguridad Alimentaria (EBIA). El estado nutricional se evaluó a través del peso/edad, talla/edad, hemoglobina, retinol sérico y zinc sérico. Fueron encontradas prevalencias de déficit de estatura (6,2%), déficit de peso/edad (2,1%), deficiencia de vitamina A (24,4%), anemia (15,5%) y deficiencia de zinc (15,0%). La inseguridad alimentaria familiar fue caracterizada en 64,2% de las familias predominando la forma leve (32,6%). El estudio concluye que la inseguridad alimentaria estimada por la EBIA no se asoció a los Escore-z de crecimiento ni a las concentraciones de retinol sérico, hemoglobina y zinc sérico.

Validity of an adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale in urban households in Iran

OBJECTIVE

To assess the validity of a locally adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) in the measurement of household food insecurity (FI) in the city of Tehran.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Urban households were selected through a systematic cluster sampling method from six different districts of Tehran. The socio-economic status of households was evaluated using a questionnaire by means of interviews. An adapted HFIAS was used to measure FI. Content validity was assessed by an expert panel, and the questionnaire was then tested among ten households for clarity. Criterion validity was assessed by comparing the measure with a number of determinants and consequences of FI. Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach's α and exploratory factor analysis. For repeatability, the questionnaire was administered twice to twenty-five households at an interval of 20 d and Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated.

SUBJECTS

A total of 416 households.

RESULTS

In all, 11·8 %, 14·4 % and 17·5 % of the households were severely, moderately and mildly food insecure, respectively. Cronbach's α was 0·855. A significant correlation was observed between the two administrations of the questionnaire (r = 0·895, P < 0·001). Factor analysis of HFIAS items revealed two factors: the first five items as factor 1 (mild-to-moderate FI) and the last four as factor 2 (severe FI). Heads of food-secure households had higher education and higher job position compared with heads of food-insecure households (P < 0·001). Income and expenditure were lower in food-insecure households compared with food-secure households.

CONCLUSIONS

Adapted HFIAS showed acceptable levels of internal consistency, criterion validity and reliability in assessing household FI among Tehranians.

Anemia, hipovitaminose A e insegurança alimentar em crianças de municípios de Baixo Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano do Nordeste do Brasil

Determinar a prevalência de anemia e hipovitaminose A e analisar a associação da (in)segurança alimentar com os níveis de hemoglobina e retinol sérico de menores de 5 anos. Estudo transversal, realizado com 501 e 458 famílias em Gameleira e São João do Tigre, respectivamente. A avaliação da (in)segurança alimentar foi realizada através da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar. Os níveis de hemoglobina e retinol sérico foram classificados de acordo com a OMS. Foram analisadas as associações com os indicadores socioeconômicos, habitação e biológicos sobre os níveis de hemoglobina e retinol sérico. As prevalências de anemia e hipovitaminose A foram mais elevadas em Gameleira quando comparadas com São João do Tigre. A (in)segurança alimentar moderada e grave das famílias foi de 75% em Gameleira e 64% em São João do Tigre. Na análise de regressão para os níveis de hemoglobina em Gameleira foram identificadas como significantes: escolaridade materna, renda familiar per capita, não possuir TV colorida, água de consumo sem tratamento, piso de barro e idade abaixo de 24 meses, enquanto para São João do Tigre o modelo final ficou resumido à falta de motocicleta e idade da criança. Quanto aos teores de retinol sérico, o modelo final de variáveis associadas ficou sendo renda per capita e sexo para Gameleira, e ausência de telefone celular e de esgotamento sanitário para São João do Tigre. A situação nutricional dessas populações, com prevalências semelhantes de insegurança alimentar, pode apresentar grandes diferenciações, sobretudo na prevalência de carências nutricionais específicas, especialmente, em relação aos fatores determinantes.