Conceptualizing and contextualizing food insecurity among Greenlandic children

Abstract

ObjectiveTo review the context of food insecurity in Greenlandic children, to review and compare the outcomes related to food insecurity in Greenlandic children, in other Arctic child populations and in other western societies, and to explore the measure used by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study.DesignThe study includes literature reviews, focus group interviews with children and analyses of data from the HBSC study. HBSC is an international cross-national school-based survey on child and adolescent health and health behaviour in the age groups 11, 13 and 15 years and performed in more than 40 countries. The item on food insecurity is “Some young people go to school or to bed hungry because there is not enough food in the home. How often does this happen to you?” (with the response options: “Always”, “Often”, “Sometimes”, or “Never”).ResultsThe context to food security among Inuit in Arctic regions was found to be very similar and connected to a westernization of the diet and contamination of the traditional diet. The major challenges are contamination, economic access to healthy food and socio-demographic differences in having a healthy diet. The literature on outcomes related to food insecurity in children in Western societies was reviewed and grouped based on 8 domains. Using data from the Greenlandic HBSC data from 2010, the item on food security showed negative associations on central items in all these domains. Focus group interviews with children revealed face and content validity of the HBSC item.ConclusionTriangulation of the above-mentioned findings indicates that the HBSC measure of food shortage is a reliable indicator of food insecurity in Greenlandic schoolchildren. However, more research is needed, especially on explanatory and mediating factors.

The Prevalence and Risk of Food Insecurity in the Nordic Region: Preliminary Results

“…Many of these studies address food insecurity or the nutritional quality of the diet among targeted sections of society (e.g., Melchior et al 2009;Niclasen et al 2013;Tingay et al 2003). Others focus on soup kitchen and other measures to alleviate the problems (Silvasti 2014).…”

Beyond nutrition: hunger and its impact on the health of young Canadians

“…Hunger during childhood is related to poor food and nutritional environments in families (Robaina and Martin 2013 ; Alaimo et al 2001 ). It is also prognostic for negative child health outcomes such as obesity (Nackers and Appelhans 2013 ), poor self-rated health (Niclasen et al 2013a , b ), increased physical symptoms and associated medicine use (Niclasen et al 2013a , b ), poorer emotional health (Melchior et al 2012 ), lower health-related quality of life (Casey et al 2005 ), and impaired physical function (Casey et al 2005 ). Hunger associated with poor nutrition also makes children vulnerable to disease due to infections (World Food Programme 2007 ).…”

Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey in Wales

“…Approximately 1 in 16 young people reported that they “often” or “always” went to bed hungry during the summer holiday period. Other international studies have reported relatively higher estimates of food insecurity at around 11% [39,40] although the methods for assessing food insecurity vary widely. In the present study, there was a trend for higher reports among children from poorer families (e.g., 7.2%, 5.8% and 5.1% for those reporting a low, medium and high FAS, respectively).…”