United Nations Children's Fund, The Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Feb;74(3):444-451. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.009. Epub 2011 Dec 14.
Food insecurity negatively impacts outcomes in adults and children including parenting practices, child development, educational achievement, school performance, diet, and nutritional status. Ethnographic and quantitative research suggests that food insecurity affects well-being not only through the lack food, poor diet, and hunger, but also through social and psychological consequences that are closely linked to it. These studies are limited in number, and have mostly been carried out in contexts with market economies where household access to food depends almost solely on income. This study considers the social and psychological experiences closely linked to food insecurity in northern Burkina Faso, a context marked by subsistence farming, chronic food insecurity with a strong seasonal pattern, and a complex social structure. A total of 33 men and women from ten households were interviewed in February 2001 using semi-structured interview guides. Data were analyzed following the principles of thematic analysis. Food insecurity is closely linked with consequences such as concern, worries, and anxiety that ultimately lead to weight and sleep loss. Food insecurity results in feelings of alienation (e.g., shame) and deprivation (e.g., guilt), and alters household cohesion leading to disputes and difficulties keeping children at home. Decisions made by household members to manage and cope with food insecurity are shaped by their fear of alienation and other cultural and social norms. These findings, although derived from data collected 10 years ago before the 2008 food and fuel crises, remain valid in the study context, and emphasize the importance of social and psychological consequences closely linked to food insecurity and their negative impact on the well-being at both individual and household levels in contexts of non-market economy and chronic food insecurity. Attention to these non-nutritional consequences will improve the design, implementation, and evaluation of food insecurity programs in this and similar contexts.
食物不安全会对成年人和儿童的各种结果产生负面影响，包括养育方式、儿童发育、教育成就、学业表现、饮食和营养状况。民族志和定量研究表明，食物不安全不仅通过缺乏食物、不良饮食和饥饿来影响幸福感，而且还通过与之密切相关的社会和心理后果来影响幸福感。这些研究的数量有限，并且主要在市场经济背景下进行，在这些背景下，家庭获得食物几乎完全取决于收入。本研究考虑了与布基纳法索北部的食物不安全密切相关的社会和心理经验，该地区以自给农业为特征，食物不安全长期存在且具有很强的季节性，社会结构复杂。2001 年 2 月，使用半结构化访谈指南对来自十个家庭的 33 名男性和女性进行了访谈。数据按照主题分析的原则进行分析。食物不安全与担忧、焦虑等后果密切相关，最终导致体重和睡眠减少。食物不安全导致疏远（例如，羞耻）和剥夺（例如，内疚）的感觉，并改变家庭凝聚力，导致家庭内部出现争端和难以让孩子留在家里。家庭成员为管理和应对食物不安全而做出的决策受到他们对疏远的恐惧以及其他文化和社会规范的影响。尽管这些发现是基于 10 年前在 2008 年粮食和燃料危机之前收集的数据得出的，但在研究背景下仍然有效，强调了与食物不安全密切相关的社会和心理后果及其对非市场经济和长期食物不安全背景下个人和家庭层面幸福感的负面影响的重要性。关注这些非营养后果将提高在这种和类似背景下设计、实施和评估食物不安全计划的效果。
