What can Secondary Data Tell Us about Household Food Insecurity in a High-Income Country Context?

Ourega Ejebu; Stephen Whybrow; Lynda Mckenzie; Elizabeth Dowler; Ada L. Garcia; Anne Ludbrook; Karen Louise Barton; Wendy Louise Wrieden; Flora Douglas

doi:10.3390/ijerph16010082

What can Secondary Data Tell Us about Household Food Insecurity in a High-Income Country Context?

Ourega Ejebu, Stephen Whybrow, Lynda Mckenzie, Elizabeth Dowler, Ada L. Garcia, Anne Ludbrook, Karen Louise Barton, Wendy Louise Wrieden, Flora Douglas^* (Corresponding Author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

In the absence of routinely collected household food insecurity data, this study investigated what could be determined about the nature and prevalence of household food insecurity in Scotland from secondary data. Secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey (2007–2012) was conducted to calculate weekly food expenditure and its ratio to equivalised income for households below average income (HBAI) and above average income (non-HBAI). Diet Quality Index (DQI) scores were calculated for this survey and the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS, 2008 and 2012). Secondary data provided a partial picture of food insecurity prevalence in Scotland, and a limited picture of differences in diet quality. In 2012, HBAI spent significantly less in absolute terms per week on food and non-alcoholic drinks (£53.85) compared to non-HBAI (£86.73), but proportionately more of their income (29% and 15% respectively). Poorer households were less likely to achieve recommended fruit and vegetable intakes than were more affluent households. The mean DQI score (SHeS data) of HBAI fell between 2008 and 2012, and was significantly lower than the mean score for non-HBAI in 2012. Secondary data are insufficient to generate the robust and comprehensive picture needed to monitor the incidence and prevalence of food insecurity in Scotland.

Original language	English
Article number	82
Number of pages	17
Journal	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume	16
Issue number	1
Early online date	29 Dec 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010082
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding: This research was funded by NHS Health Scotland with additional funding support provided for Flora Douglas’ and Stephen Whybrow’s time from the Scottish Government’s RESAS programme. Core support to HERU from the Chief Scientist Office Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates and the University
of Aberdeen is gratefully acknowledged.
Acknowledgments: This study was also like to acknowledge Bill Gray NHS Health Scotland and Dionne MacKison formerly of NHS Health Scotland for their professional review and support during the project. The authors would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript, whose observations
and suggestions improved this paper.

Keywords

food insecurity
food poverty
prevalence
household
food surveys
secondary data
Scotland
Poverty
Prevalence
Diet/economics
Humans
Income
Scotland/epidemiology
Family Characteristics
Health Surveys
Food Supply/economics
POVERTY
BANKS
SECURITY
DIET QUALITY
MENTAL-ILLNESS
HUNGER
ASSOCIATION

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/ijerph16010082Licence: CC BY

What can Secondary Data Tell Us about Household Food Insecurity in a High-Income Country Context?
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Final published version, 602 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{4e344b5bc5b04807ab5f58300a3c0a19,

title = "What can Secondary Data Tell Us about Household Food Insecurity in a High-Income Country Context?",

abstract = "In the absence of routinely collected household food insecurity data, this study investigated what could be determined about the nature and prevalence of household food insecurity in Scotland from secondary data. Secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey (2007–2012) was conducted to calculate weekly food expenditure and its ratio to equivalised income for households below average income (HBAI) and above average income (non-HBAI). Diet Quality Index (DQI) scores were calculated for this survey and the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS, 2008 and 2012). Secondary data provided a partial picture of food insecurity prevalence in Scotland, and a limited picture of differences in diet quality. In 2012, HBAI spent significantly less in absolute terms per week on food and non-alcoholic drinks (£53.85) compared to non-HBAI (£86.73), but proportionately more of their income (29% and 15% respectively). Poorer households were less likely to achieve recommended fruit and vegetable intakes than were more affluent households. The mean DQI score (SHeS data) of HBAI fell between 2008 and 2012, and was significantly lower than the mean score for non-HBAI in 2012. Secondary data are insufficient to generate the robust and comprehensive picture needed to monitor the incidence and prevalence of food insecurity in Scotland.",

keywords = "food insecurity, food poverty, prevalence, household, food surveys, secondary data, Scotland, Poverty, Prevalence, Diet/economics, Humans, Income, Scotland/epidemiology, Family Characteristics, Health Surveys, Food Supply/economics, POVERTY, BANKS, SECURITY, DIET QUALITY, MENTAL-ILLNESS, HUNGER, ASSOCIATION",

author = "Ourega Ejebu and Stephen Whybrow and Lynda Mckenzie and Elizabeth Dowler and Garcia, {Ada L.} and Anne Ludbrook and Barton, {Karen Louise} and Wrieden, {Wendy Louise} and Flora Douglas",

note = "Funding: This research was funded by NHS Health Scotland with additional funding support provided for Flora Douglas{\textquoteright} and Stephen Whybrow{\textquoteright}s time from the Scottish Government{\textquoteright}s RESAS programme. Core support to HERU from the Chief Scientist Office Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates and the University of Aberdeen is gratefully acknowledged. Acknowledgments: This study was also like to acknowledge Bill Gray NHS Health Scotland and Dionne MacKison formerly of NHS Health Scotland for their professional review and support during the project. The authors would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript, whose observations and suggestions improved this paper.",

year = "2019",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3390/ijerph16010082",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

journal = "International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health",

issn = "1660-4601",