Elsevier

Nutrition

Volume 93, January 2022, 111448
Nutrition

Applied nutritional investigation
Home food insecurity during the suspension of classes in Brazilian public schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2021.111448Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Disruption of school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic may expose students to the risk of food insecurity.

  • Households with more than three children were at greater risk for food insecurity.

  • The policy of distributing basic food baskets to students’ families may not be sufficient to ensure food security.

  • Households with large income reductions were associated with food insecurity.

  • During and after COVID-19, it is necessary to expand social protection mechanisms in Brazil.

Abstract

Objectives

We sought to evaluate the effect of socioeconomic conditions and variables related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the food insecurity of students during suspension of classes in public schools.

Methods

This was a telephone survey (n = 612) of adults responsible for purchasing food through representative samples of students in two Brazilian municipalities in June and July 2020. The outcome was food insecurity, assessed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CIs) for sociodemographic and pandemic-related factors of COVID-19.

Results

The total prevalence of food insecurity in households was 82%, with 65.7% mild food insecurity, 11.3% moderate, and 5.0% severe. After adjustment for confounding factors, households with the highest number of children (OR = 2.17; 95% CI, 1.10–4.27) and households that received local-government basic food baskets (OR = 1.64; 95% CI, 1.04–2.58) were significantly associated with food insecurity. Furthermore, households that did not experience a decrease in income during the pandemic were inversely associated with food insecurity (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.09–0.32).

Conclusions

The prevalence of food insecurity was high, and policies for the distribution of food baskets may not be sufficient to guarantee food security for the most vulnerable families with a greater number of children. Considering the possible worsening of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National School Feeding Program has the potential to play a strategic role in promoting food security for students.

Keywords

COVID-19
Food insecurity
Pandemic
School feeding
Basic food basket

Cited by (0)

This study received no funding, and the authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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