A Food Insecurity Systematic Review: Experience from Malaysia

Living free from hunger is a basic human right. However, some communities still experience household food insecurity. This systematic literature review explored different aspects of household food insecurity in Malaysia including vulnerable groups, prevalence, risk factors, coping strategies, and the consequences of food insecurity. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Thirty-three relevant articles were selected from scientific databases such as CINAHL, Pubmed and Google Scholar, scrutiny of reference lists, and personal communication with experts in the field. The prevalence of household food insecurity in Malaysia was unexpectedly reported as high, with affected groups including Orang Asli, low-income household/welfare-recipient households, university students, and the elderly. Demographic risk factors and socioeconomic characteristics included larger household, living in poverty, and low education. Coping strategies were practices to increase the accessibility of food in their households. Consequences of household food insecurity included psychological, dietary (macro- and micronutrient intakes), nutritional status, and health impacts. In conclusion, this review confirmed that household food insecurity in Malaysia continues to exist. Nevertheless, extensive and active investigations are encouraged to obtain a more holistic and comprehensive picture pertaining to household food security in Malaysia.

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Household Food Insecurity and Psychosocial Dysfunction in Ecuadorian Elementary Schoolchildren

International Journal of Pediatrics ◽

10.1155/2018/6067283 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Margaret Weigel ◽

Rodrigo X. Armijos

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Maternal Mental Health ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Global Public Health ◽

School Aged Children ◽

Psychosocial Dysfunction ◽

Household Food

Household food insecurity (HFI) is a major global public health and pediatric concern due to its reported association with adverse child nutrition, growth, and health outcomes. Psychosocial dysfunction is a major cause of childhood disability. US and Canadian studies have linked HFI to poorer overall psychosocial dysfunction and specific dysfunction types in school-aged children, i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and attention behaviors. However, it is uncertain whether prior findings are generalizable to low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the association of HFI with psychosocial dysfunction in 6-12-year-old public elementary schoolchildren (n=279) residing in low-income neighborhoods in Quito, Ecuador. Maternal caregivers were interviewed to obtain data on child psychosocial dysfunction (Pediatric Symptom Checklist, PSC), food security (Household Food Security Survey Module), and maternal mental health (SF-36 Mental Composite Summary). Capillary blood samples were obtained from child participants to measure hemoglobin levels. The data were analyzed using general linear models with adjustment for covariates. The results revealed that HFI was associated with significantly higher overall average PSC scores (p=0.002) and with internalizing (p=0.001) and externalizing (p=0.03) but not attention subscale scores. However, anemia was independently associated with PSC attention subscale scores (p=0.015). This is the first study to report on the relationship between HFI and psychosocial dysfunction in school-aged children in a LMIC setting. It highlights the importance of improving policies and programs protecting vulnerable households from HFI. In addition to improving health and nutrition, such improvements could potentially reduce the burden of child psychosocial dysfunction.

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Food Insecurity and Its Association With School Absenteeism Among Rural School Adolescents in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1010539517691606 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 114-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dessalegn Tamiru ◽

Yabsira Melaku ◽

Tefera Belachew

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Adjusted Odds Ratio ◽

Rural School ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

School Absenteeism ◽

Household Food ◽

Jimma Zone

Studies showed that poor health and nutrition among school adolescents are major barriers to educational access and achievements in low-income countries. This school-based study was aimed to assess the association of school absenteeism and food insecurity among rural school adolescents from grades 5 to 8 in Jimma zone, Ethiopia. Regression analyses were used to see the strength of association between dependent and independent variables using odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictor of school absenteeism. Validated tools are used to collect household food insecurity data. Results showed that school absenteeism is significantly high among adolescents from food insecure households when compared to adolescents from food secure households ( P <.001). School absenteeism was negatively associated with male sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = −0.91, 95% CI −1.85 to −0.03), household food security (adjusted odds ratio = −1.85, 95% CI −3.11 to −0.59), being an elder sibling (AOR = −0.37, 95% CI, −0.62 to −0.12), and mother involvement in decision making (AOR = −0.68, 95% CI, −1.33 to −0.03) while male-headed household was positively associated (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI, 1.37 to 4.56). Generally, this study showed that household food insecurity has significant contribution to school absenteeism among rural adolescents. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve household income earning capacity to reduce the prevalence of school absenteeism among rural school adolescents.

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Household food insecurity and associated socio-economic factors among recent Syrian refugees in two Canadian cities

BORDER CROSSING ◽

10.33182/bc.v10i2.1161 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 203-214

Author(s):

Lina Al-Kharabsheh ◽

Samer Al-Bazz ◽

Mustafa Koc ◽

Joe Garcia ◽

Ginny Lane ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Inverse Association ◽

Security Model ◽

Syrian Refugees ◽

Household Food ◽

Significant Difference

In Canada, the prevalence of food insecurity is high among low-income households, particularly recent refugees. We evaluated the prevalence of food security among recent Syrian refugees and the associated factors in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Saskatoon. We collected data using the Household Food ‎Security Model, sociodemographic and socioeconomic questionnaires from 151 families. 84% of the Syrian households were food insecure, with no significant difference in prevalence between Saskatoon and Toronto. The risk of food insecurity was four ‎times higher for households with the annual income below $40,000. Households with educated woman (high school or higher) had four times higher risk of household food insecurity compared to families with less-educated women. ‎Our findings indicate the high prevalence of food insecurity among recently resettled Syrian refugees in Canada. Higher-income directly associated with food security. The inverse association between education and food security in households with highly educated women warrants further investigation.

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Risk Factors of Stunting and Wasting among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Household Food Insecurity of Jima Geneti District, Western Oromia, Ethiopia: An Observational Study

Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1155/2022/3981417 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 2022 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Tamiru Yazew

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Nutritional Status ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Health Concern ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Household Food ◽

Study Results ◽

Associated Risk Factors

Undernutrition is the most difficult and widespread public health concern in low-income nations including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the associated risk factors of stunting and wasting among children aged 6–59 months in Jima Geneti district, Western Oromia, Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 children from December 1 to 28, 2020. A multiple-stage sampling method was performed to select children from each kebele. Anthropometric measurements were taken, and the nutritional status was generated using WHO Anthro v. 3.2.1. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS version 20.0. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify the associated risk factors of stunting and wasting among children in the study area. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 . The study results showed that the prevalence of stunting and wasting among children was 27% and 11.8%, respectively. The findings of this study also revealed that the prevalence of household food insecurity and poor dietary diets was 19.6% and 52.2%, respectively. Low wealth status (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1, 5.55) and poor dietary diets (AOR = 4.7; 95% CI: 2.5, 8.83) were associated risk factors for stunting. However, child meal frequency (AOR = 3.9; 95% CI: 1.23, 12.6), and children who did feed leftover food (AOR = 2.75; 95% CI: 1.02, 7.44) were associated risk factors for wasting. Poor dietary diets (AOR = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.06, 6.66) were also associated risk factors for wasting. The findings of this study concluded that the prevalence of stunting and wasting was high in the study area. Therefore, addressing family-level risk factors which are major drivers of children’s nutritional status is crucial to ensure the nutritional status of children.

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Household food security during Covid-19 pandemic in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Sustinere Journal of Environment and Sustainability ◽

10.22515/sustinere.jes.v4i2.118 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 132-143

Author(s):

Nurwulan Purnasari ◽

Titisari Juwitangtyas ◽

Iman Sabarisman

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Financial Crisis ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Future Research ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Household Food ◽

The Impact

Household food security in Indonesia depends on many factors. This study aims to describe household food security during the Covid-19 pandemic in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY). This research was conducted using a questionnaire for taking data. This study showed that there was a difference in household food security between the pre-pandemic of Covid-19 and during the pandemic of Covid-19. The hunger scale di DIY at the pre-pandemic of Covid-19 was 6% and increased during the pandemic of Covid-19 to 11%. It is showed that the financial crisis because of Covid-19 also influenced at increasing household food insecurity. As far as future research is concerned, the impact of food insecurity in vulnerable groups within the studied communities needs to be determined.

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The Impacts of Climatic and Non-climatic Factors on Household Food Security: Study on Malaysian East Coast Poor

10.31235/osf.io/xdpks ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽

Chamhuri Siwar ◽

Abu N.M. Wahid

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Climatic Changes ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Personal Factors ◽

Household Food ◽

Low Income Households

Sustainable food security at household level is a national concern in many countries. The reasons for household food insecurity include social, economic, political, and personal factors as well as climatic changes and its outcomes. This research aims at finding out the linkage of the factors of climatic changes, non-climatic factors and household resiliencies with the level of household food security among the poor and low income households in Malaysia. This study is based on primary data that were collected in Jul-Oct 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 poor and low income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu States of Malaysia. The sample was selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on cluster random sampling technique. Initially the study measures household food security according to the USAID-HFIA model, and ran ordinal regressions under the logit and probit models. This study finds that household food insecurity is not only linked with social and economic factors, but also significantly linked with the climatic factors. Therefore, the food security programs need to be integrated with the adaption programs for climatic change.

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Factors related to household food insecurity in the Republic of Korea

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980010003733 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 1080-1087 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Kirang Kim ◽

Mi Kyung Kim ◽

Young-Jeon Shin ◽

Sang Sun Lee

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Low Income ◽

Food Assistance ◽

Republic Of Korea ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Data Set ◽

Household Food ◽

The Republic ◽

Low Income Households

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the prevalence of food insecurity and to identify factors that contribute to it in the Republic of Korea.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingData 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 χ2 or t test. The independent associations of food insecurity with each characteristic were assessed with multivariate logistic regression analysis.SubjectsThe sample size consisted of 6238 households.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsFood 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.

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Inflammation and Stress Biomarkers Mediate the Relationship Between Household Food Insecurity and Insulin Resistance Among Latinos with Type 2 Diabetes (OR02-02-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz051.or02-02-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Angela Bermudez-Millan ◽

Julie Wagner ◽

Richard Feinn ◽

Sofia Segura-Pérez ◽

Grace Damio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Insulin Resistance ◽

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Low Income ◽

Stress Hormones ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Household Food

Abstract Objectives Household food insecurity (HFI) is a stressor that is associated with hyperglycemia type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, little is known about HFI and the insulin resistance underlying hyperglycemia and T2D, and mechanisms involved have not been elucidated. We examined HFI and insulin resistance among low-income Latinos with T2D and tested whether inflammation and stress hormones mediated this relationship. Methods This study is cross-sectional. HFI was measured with the Spanish and English versions of the 6-item US Household Food Security Survey Module. Insulin resistance was calculated from fasting blood glucose and insulin. Inflammation was indicated by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and stress hormones included cortisol, metanephrine and normetanephrine. Results The 121 participants were primarily Puerto Rican (85.8%), aged mean = 60.7 years and 74% were female. Eighty-two (68%) were classified as food insecure. Compared to food secure individuals, food insecure individuals had a significantly higher hsCRP (P = .008), cortisol (P = .045), insulin (P = .019), glucose (P < .001), insulin resistance (P = 001), and total cholesterol (P = .004). Groups did not differ on other lipids, metanephrine, normetanephrine, or A1c. A parallel multiple mediation model showed a significant direct effect of HFI on hsCRP (P = .020) and on cortisol (P = .011). There was a direct effect of cortisol (P = .013), hsCRP (P = .044) and HFI on insulin resistance (P = .015). The total combined indirect effect of food insecurity through cortisol and hsCRP was indicated partial mediation. Conclusions Among Latinos with T2D, HFI is associated with insulin resistance partially through inflammation and stress hormones. Interventions to ameliorate HFI and mitigate its effects on inflammation, stress, and insulin resistance is warranted. Funding Sources Supported by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01MD005879) to Drs. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla and Julie Wagner and the American Diabetes Association (7–13-TS-31) to Dr. Julie Wagner.

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Household food insecurity and coping strategies among pensioners in Jimma Town, South West Ethiopia

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-018-6291-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Misgana Asesefa Kisi ◽

Dessalegn Tamiru ◽

Melese Sinaga Teshome ◽

Meseret Tamiru ◽

Garumma Tolu Feyissa

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Household Food ◽

South West ◽

And Coping ◽

South West Ethiopia ◽

Jimma Town

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Preparing for COVID-19: Household food insecurity and vulnerability to shocks in Nairobi, Kenya

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0259139 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. e0259139

Author(s):

Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango ◽

Jonathan Crush ◽

Samuel Owuor

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Emergency Preparedness ◽

Multilevel Modelling ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Preparedness Plan ◽

Household Food ◽

New Policies ◽

Social Safety Nets

An understanding of the types of shocks that disrupt and negatively impact urban household food security is of critical importance to develop relevant and targeted food security emergency preparedness policies and responses, a fact magnified by the current COVID-19 pandemic. This gap is addressed by the current study which draws from the Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) city-wide household food insecurity survey of Nairobi city in Kenya. It uses both descriptive statistics and multilevel modelling using General Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) to examine the relationship between household food security and 16 different shocks experienced in the six months prior to the administration of the survey. The findings showed that only 29% of surveyed households were completely food secure. Of those experiencing some level of food insecurity, more experienced economic (55%) than sociopolitical (16%) and biophysical (10%) shocks. Economic shocks such as food price increases, loss of employment, and reduced income were all associated with increased food insecurity. Coupled with the lack of functioning social safety nets in Nairobi, households experiencing shocks and emergencies experience serious food insecurity and related health effects. In this context, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a major negative economic impact on many vulnerable urban households. As such, there is need for new policies on urban food emergencies with a clear emergency preparedness plan for responding to major economic and other shocks that target the most vulnerable.

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