Commonalities in the Experience of Household Food Insecurity across Cultures: What Are Measures Missing?

Objective: The present study was designed to determine household food security status and factors associated with food insecurity among high-school students in Esfahan, Iran. Design: Cross-sectional surveys. Setting: The present study was conducted in autumn 2008 in Esfahan, Iran. The samples were selected using systematic cluster sampling. Socio-economic questionnaires, food security questionnaires and FFQ were filled out during face-to-face interviews. In addition, data on participants' weights and heights were collected. Subjects: A total of 580 students (261 boys and 319 girls) aged 14-17 years from forty high schools in Esfahan, Iran, were selected. Results: The prevalence of household food insecurity according to the US Department of Agriculture food security questionnaire was 36?6 % (95 % CI 0?33, 0?40). Food insecurity was positively associated with number of members in the household (P , 0?05) and negatively associated with parental education level and job status and household economic status (P , 0?05). Moreover, students living in food-insecure households more frequently consumed bread, macaroni, potato and egg (P , 0?05), while they less frequently consumed rice, red meat, sausage and hamburger, poultry, fish, green vegetables, root and bulb (coloured) vegetables, melons, apples and oranges, milk and yoghurt (P , 0?05). Conclusions: Food insecurity was prevalent among households in Esfahan, Iran, and food security status was associated with socio-economic factors. Students who belonged to food-secure households more frequently consumed healthy foods (except sausage and hamburger), whereas those living in food-insecure households more frequently consumed cheap foods containing high energy per kilogram. The present study suggests that intervention programmes be designed and carried out. Keywords Food securityEsfahan High-school students USDAThe concept of food security includes problems with the quantity of available food, uncertainty about food supply and experience of hunger in life (1,2) . Food insecurity is prevalent in both developed and developing countries, affecting 6-73 % of the general population (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) . It has considerable health impacts on the physical, social and psychological status of individuals suffering from food insecurity. It also affects quality of life (17) . Various techniques and methods have been used to measure food insecurity in many countries (18)(19)(20) .The aim of the present study was to determine household food security status and factors associated with food insecurity among high-school students in Esfahan, Iran. Methods Data collection and subjectsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in autumn 2008 with 580 students (261 boys and 319 girls) from forty high schools in Esfahan. The average age of students was 15?7 years (range: 14-17 years), and the exclusion criterion was suffering from metabolic disease. The sampling method used in the present study was systemic clustering. Selection of schools and classes was ca...

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confidence: 99%

“…It also affects quality of life (17) . Various techniques and methods have been used to measure food insecurity in many countries (18)(19)(20) .…”

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confidence: 99%

Household food security status and associated factors among high-school students in Esfahan, Iran

Mohammadzadeh

Dorosty

Eshraghian

2010

“…In many countries of this region, the scarcity of such interventions and policies is attributed in part to the lack of culture-specific tools to assess food insecurity (9) . Recent evidence highlights promising potentials in food access measurements, particularly with the development of simple household survey tools such as the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) (10)(11)(12) , a nine-item measure of food access designed to be used cross-culturally. The HFIAS was developed by the US Agency for International Development-funded Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (13) , and was reported as valid for the measurement of household food insecurity by several countries including Tanzania and Iran (14,15) .…”

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confidence: 99%

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

Naja

Hwalla

Fossian

et al. 2014

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 lengthfor-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 a of the scale was 0?91. A moderate correlation was observed between the two administrations of the questionnaire (intra-class correlation 5 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.

“…The experiential food insecurity measures have the advantage of incorporating as essential elements the perceptions of food insecurity by the people most affected, so that they are more direct measures of food insecurity than other proxy measures (1,4,6) . Currently, the measures have been extensively tested and proven robust in many countries (7)(8)(9)(10) .…”

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confidence: 99%

Factors related to household food insecurity in the Republic of Korea

Kim

Shin

et al. 2011

Objective: To examine the prevalence of food insecurity and to identify factors that contribute to it in the Republic of Korea. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Data were selected from a secondary data set, the third Korean Welfare Panel Study. Household food insecurity was measured with a six-item Korean version of the US Household Food Security Survey Module. The differences in proportions or means of household characteristics, householder's characteristics, economic status and social benefits by food insecurity status were tested with the x 2 or t test. The independent associations of food insecurity with each characteristic were assessed with multivariate logistic regression analysis. Subjects: The sample size consisted of 6238 households. Results: The prevalence of food insecurity was 5?3 % among all households and 25?7 % among low-income households. Risk factors that were associated with a higher risk of food insecurity included living alone, unemployment, no job, low household income and living in a leased or rented home. For low-income households, living in a leased or rented home increased the risk of food insecurity. Among food-insecure households, 26?1 % of the full sample of households and 34?3 % of low-income households were participating in food assistance programmes. Conclusions: Food insecurity among the Korean population was related to household type, income, job status and housing. Food assistance programmes were not enough to completely alleviate food insecurity.