Fatores associados à insegurança alimentar nos domicílios da Região Nordeste do Brasil, 2004

Abstract

Food insecurity is the limitation or uncertainty of having access to adequate food in sufficient quantity and quality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the main factors that were associated with food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger. The analyses were done for the Northeast, Brazil. Data used were from PNAD 2004, representing a population of 12,531,052 households. Logistic regressions of binary response were used in order to evaluate factors associated with food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger. All analyses were stratified by rural/urban situation.Household income was highly and strongly associated with food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger in households in the Northeast, regardless of the rural/urban situation. The lower the income the higher the odds of food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger. For urban households, a higher number of factors (related both to the characteristics of the household and the person in charge of the household) were associated with food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger as compared to urban households. In rural areas, factors directly associated with access, preparation and storage of food revealed significance. A result to be emphasized is that there was a negative association between the presence of children and adolescents and food insecurity with hunger. This finding can be related to the increased targeting of available resources to ensure that the household members could have enough to eat.