Refinement of the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale: Recommendation for a 14-item EBIA

Abstract

A B S T R A C T ObjectiveTo review and refine Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale structure. MethodsThe study analyzed the impact of removing the item "adult lost weight" and one of two possibly redundant items on Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale psychometric behavior using the one-parameter logistic (Rasch) model. Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale psychometric behavior was analyzed with respect to acceptable adjustment values ranging from 0.7 to 1.3, and to severity scores of the items with theoretically expected gradients. The socioeconomic and food security indicators came from the 2004 National Household Sample Survey, which obtained complete answers to Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale items from 112,665 households. ResultsRemoving the items "adult reduced amount..." followed by "adult ate less..." did not change the infit of the remaining items, except for "adult lost weight", whose infit increased from 1.21 to 1.56. The internal consistency and item severity scores did not change when "adult ate less" and one of the two redundant items were removed.

Food insecurity and nutritional status of individuals in a socially vulnerable situation in Brazil

“…Women, in food security and at all levels of FI, presented mean BMI greater than normal weight range (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 ) and mean fat percentages "above average" (24-31%) 23 . Those with mild FI presented higher values of body fat (mean of 32.4%), corresponding to the classification "risk of diseases associated with obesity" (Table 2).…”

“…It allows the household's situation to be classified as one of food security, mild food insecurity, moderate food insecurity and severe food insecurity. This questionnaire is an adapted version of the U.S. Household Food Security Module (HHFSM) used by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 14,16,23,24 .…”

Efeito do Programa Bolsa Família na prevalência de insegurança alimentar familiar

“…O uso desse instrumento tem se mostrado um recurso valioso para identificar grupos populacionais de maior risco de IA, em seus diferentes graus de gravidade. Ele também pode ser utilizado para acompanhar o cumprimento de metas programáticas e a efetividade populacional das intervenções pertinentes [5,39] .…”

Food security measurement in rural households: the case of indigenous communities in Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico

“…Latin American and Caribbean Household Food Security Measurement Scale (ELCSA) is based on the idea that there is a set of predictable reactions to the experience of food insecurity that can be summarized and quantified, allowing for measurement through household surveys. The ELCSA was adapted from various methodologies, including the one used in the United States (Carlson et al 1999;FAO, 2012;Melgar-Quiñónez and Hackett, 2008;Nord et al 2007;Pérez-Escamilla, 2012;Wehler et al 1992), or in Brazil (Segall-Corrêa et al 2014), among others. Its classification system uses a set of fifteen questions used in surveys around the Latin American and the Caribbean that have been proved to be effective in distinguishing the food secure from the food insecure at the household level (Bezuneh et al 2007;FAO, 2012;Melgar-Quiñonez, 2010;Pérez-Escamilla et al 2009;Shamah-Levy et al 2014;Villagómez-Ornelas et al 2014).…”