Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
BMJ Open. 2021 Apr 21;11(4):e048738. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048738.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profound negative impacts on people's lives, but little is known on its effect on household food insecurity (HFI) in poor setting resources. This study assessed changes in HFI during the pandemic and examined the interlinkages between HFI with child feeding practices and coping strategies.
A longitudinal survey in December 2019 (in-person) and August 2020 (by phone).
Community-based individuals from 26 blocks in 2 districts in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Mothers with children <2 years (n=569).
We measured HFI by using the HFI Access Scale and examined the changes in HFI during the pandemic using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests. We then assessed child feeding practices and coping strategies by HFI status using multivariable regression models.
HFI increased sharply from 21% in December 2019 to 80% in August 2020, with 62% households changing the status from food secure to insecure over this period. Children in newly or consistently food-insecure households were less likely to consume a diverse diet (adjusted OR, AOR 0.57, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.95 and AOR 0.51, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.12, respectively) compared with those in food-secure households. Households with consistent food insecurity were more likely to engage in coping strategies such as reducing other essential non-food expenditures (AOR 2.2, 95% CI 1.09 to 4.24), borrowing money to buy food (AOR 4.3, 95% CI 2.31 to 7.95) or selling jewellery (AOR 5.0, 95% CI 1.74 to 14.27) to obtain foods. Similar findings were observed for newly food-insecure households.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown measures posed a significant risk to HFI which in turn had implications for child feeding practices and coping strategies. Our findings highlight the need for further investment in targeted social protection strategies and safety nets as part of multisectoral solutions to improve HFI during and after COVID-19.
新冠疫情对人们的生活产生了深远的负面影响，但人们对其在贫困地区对家庭粮食不安全（HFI）的影响知之甚少。本研究评估了疫情期间 HFI 的变化，并研究了 HFI 与儿童喂养行为和应对策略之间的相互关系。
2019 年 12 月（面对面）和 2020 年 8 月（电话）进行的纵向调查。
印度北方邦 2 个区 26 个街区的社区个体。
26 个街区的 569 名 2 岁以下儿童的母亲。
我们使用 HFI 接入量表衡量 HFI，并使用 Wilcoxon 配对符号秩检验评估疫情期间 HFI 的变化。然后，我们根据 HFI 状况使用多变量回归模型评估儿童喂养行为和应对策略。
HFI 从 2019 年 12 月的 21%急剧上升到 2020 年 8 月的 80%，在此期间，62%的家庭的 HFI 状态从有保障变为无保障。与有保障家庭相比，新出现或持续处于粮食不安全状态的家庭的儿童更不可能食用多样化的食物（调整后的 OR，AOR 0.57，95%CI 0.34 至 0.95 和 AOR 0.51，95%CI 0.23 至 1.12）。持续粮食不安全的家庭更有可能采取应对策略，例如减少其他必要的非食品支出（AOR 2.2，95%CI 1.09 至 4.24）、借钱购买食物（AOR 4.3，95%CI 2.31 至 7.95）或出售珠宝（AOR 5.0，95%CI 1.74 至 14.27）来获取食物。新出现粮食不安全的家庭也有类似的发现。
新冠疫情及其封锁措施对 HFI 构成了重大风险，这反过来又对儿童喂养行为和应对策略产生了影响。我们的研究结果强调需要进一步投资于有针对性的社会保护战略和安全网，作为多部门解决方案的一部分，以改善疫情期间和之后的 HFI。
