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Food Insecurity and Associated Factors in Brazilian Undergraduates during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Source :
-
Nutrients [Nutrients] 2022 Jan 14; Vol. 14 (2). Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jan 14. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Undergraduates may face challenges to assure food security, related to economic and mental distress, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess food insecurity and its associated factors in undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2020 to February 2021 with 4775 undergraduates from all Brazilian regions. The questionnaire contained socio-economic variables, the validated Brazilian food insecurity scale, and the ESQUADA scale to assess diet quality. The median age of the students was 22.0 years, and 48.0% reported income decreasing with the pandemic. Food insecurity was present in 38.6% of the students, 4.5% with severe food insecurity and 7.7% moderate. Logistic regressions showed students with brown and black skin color/race presented the highest OR for food insecurity; both income and weight increase or reduction during the pandemic was also associated with a higher OR for food insecurity, and better diet quality was associated with decreased OR for food insecurity. Our study showed a considerable presence of food insecurity in undergraduates. Policy for this population must be directed to the most vulnerable: those with brown and black skin color/race, who changed income during the pandemic, and those presented with difficulties maintaining weight and with poor diet quality.
- Subjects :
- Brazil epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
SARS-CoV-2
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Universities
Young Adult
COVID-19
Diet statistics & numerical data
Food Insecurity
Food Supply statistics & numerical data
Students statistics & numerical data
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2072-6643
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nutrients
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 35057539
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14020358