Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
Healthy Lifestyle Promotion Section of Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand.
Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 13;10:1071814. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1071814. eCollection 2022.
This study investigated the prevalence of food insecurity, and the association between socio-demographic and geographic factors and food insecurity in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study extracted data on 5,066 persons age 15 years or older from a nationally-representative sample survey of Thai households, conducted during June-December 2021. The respondents were asked about food insecurity, socio-demographic characteristics, debt, and role of the primary household food provider. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the variables and food insecurity.
Of the total sample, 28.6% had food insecurity. The highest probability of having food insecurity ( < 0.001) was observed in persons age 15-29 years, with no formal education, and in the lowest quartile of income. The highest probability of having food insecurity was found among respondents residing in the northeast, which is the poorest and with the least development status among geographic regions in Thailand. Respondents who reported having onerous personal debt and being the main household food provider were 1.4 and 2.3 times as likely to have food insecurity as those with no debt and not being the main food provider, respectively ( < 0.001).
This suggests that government attention is required in developing policies and strategies to improve food security through addressing the socio-economic determinants, and buffer the negative impact of a national crisis on diets. Investment to improve household income and raise the educational profile of the population is needed. Addressing the regional disparities in food security requires area-specific measures which target the most vulnerable population groups.
本研究调查了在 COVID-19 大流行期间泰国的食物不安全状况的流行率，以及社会人口学和地理因素与食物不安全之间的关联。
本研究从 2021 年 6 月至 12 月期间对泰国家庭进行的全国代表性抽样调查中提取了 5066 名 15 岁或以上人群的数据。受访者被问及食物不安全、社会人口学特征、债务以及主要家庭食物提供者的角色。采用二元逻辑回归分析调查了这些变量与食物不安全之间的关联。
在总样本中，有 28.6%的人存在食物不安全。年龄在 15-29 岁、没有正规教育和收入最低四分位数的人群最有可能出现食物不安全（<0.001）。在东北部地区（泰国地理区域中最贫穷和发展水平最低的地区），受访者最有可能出现食物不安全。报告有沉重个人债务和作为主要家庭食物提供者的受访者，其食物不安全的可能性分别是没有债务和不是主要食物提供者的 1.4 倍和 2.3 倍（<0.001）。
这表明，政府需要注意制定政策和战略，通过解决社会经济决定因素，改善食物安全，并减轻国家危机对饮食的负面影响。需要投资提高家庭收入和提高人口的教育水平。解决食物安全的地区差异需要针对最脆弱人群群体的具体地区措施。
