Measuring Food Insecurity

Barrett, Chris

doi:10.1126/science.1182768

Cited by 961 publications

(696 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…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

Public Health Nutr.

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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.

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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

Public Health Nutr.

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“…In contrast, particularly in the months immediately preceding harvest – sometimes called the ‘hunger season’ or ‘lean season’ – subsistence households may have run down their stores of grain and savings while energy demands remain high, leading to hunger and compromising productivity (Behrman & Deolalikar, 1989; Strauss, 1986). Seasonal hunger can be exacerbated by unusual variations in weather patterns or by household shocks such as household member unemployment or sickness (Barrett, 2010; Bogale, 2012; Gebrehiwot & Van der Veen, 2014; M’Kaibi, Steyn, Ochola, & Du Plessis, 2015). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Seasonal Hunger and Prevention and Coping Strategies: A Panel Analysis of Malawian Farm Households

Anderson

Reynolds

Merfeld

et al. 2017

The Journal of Development Studies

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Relative to chronic hunger, seasonal hunger in rural and urban areas of Africa is poorly understood. This paper examines the extent and potential correlates of seasonal hunger in Malawi using panel data from 2011–2013. We find that both urban and rural households report seasonal hunger in the pre-harvest months. Certain strategies to smooth consumption, including crop storage and livestock ownership, are associated with fewer months of hunger. In addition, we find that Malawian households that experience seasonal hunger harvest their crops earlier than average – a short-term coping mechanism that can reduce the crop’s yield and nutritional value, possibly perpetuating hunger.

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“…For example, in the US, the prevalence of food insecurity was 11.2% of households, which rose to 14.6% in 2008. In addition, 3.5% of all households experienced hunger in 2003 and this figure rose to 5.7% in 2008. Notably, the greatest food security challenges occurred among populations with children in low income, single parent, African-American and Hispanic households in the South and West of the country [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Food security is most commonly conceptualised as dependent on four aspects of availability, access, utilisation and stability [3,4]. Food availability refers to the range of nutritious foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables which are sold or served at local food outlets while food access indicates the extent to which individuals are physically and economically capable in obtaining nutritious foods [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Security in a Regional Area of Australia: A Socio-economic Perspective

Lê¹,

Auckland²,

Nguyen³

et al. 2014

ujfns

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While Australia is considered to be a highly food-secure nation, some populations are more vulnerable to food insecurity than others and this applies to Tasmania, an island state of Australia. The aim of this study was to highlight food security issues in the two local government areas of Dorset and Clarence in Tasmania, Australia. This paper reports on the key quantitative findings of the project with a focus on food access and food utilisation, and their association with socio-economic factors. Quantitative data were collected from a total of 835 survey participants using a questionnaire developed in close consultation with service provider organizations as well as public health and nutrition experts. The study revealed 53 (6.6%) residents were at the low food security and 18 (2.1%) who literally went without food. The significant correlations between low food security and socio-economic factors evidenced in the study further suggested that the low-food security residents were more likely to come from the more vulnerable groups of low income families (χ2= 42.528, df = 6, p < 0.05), the younger and older population groups (χ2= 12.361, df = 5, p < 0.05) or those living in socio-economically disadvantaged rural areas (χ2= 165.9, df =7, p < 0.05). A link between physical and financial access was clearly indicated due to high fuel cost (44.4%) which was the most common barrier reported among those who used personal vehicles for travelling to and from food shops. The study findings help to direct strategic policies to food security for the future of Tasmanians such as the "Food for all Tasmanians" strategy by the Tasmanian Food Security Council which focuses on ensuring social food equity for all Tasmanians. These strategies include promoting publicly funded community cars, promoting local produce and food access initiatives such as increased farm gate sales, farmer markets, food cooperatives, community gardens and growing and swapping produce within communities.

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Measuring Food Insecurity

Cited by 961 publications

References 9 publications

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

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

Relating Seasonal Hunger and Prevention and Coping Strategies: A Panel Analysis of Malawian Farm Households

Food Security in a Regional Area of Australia: A Socio-economic Perspective

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