Sciensano, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
Sciensano, Department of Chemical and Physical Health Risks, Brussels, Belgium.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jul 29;24(1):2034. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19389-7.
Food insecurity is a global public health issue associated with noncommunicable diseases. Individual factors are strongly associated with food insecurity, but there is limited literature on the broader impact of both the social and food environments on food insecurity in non-English speaking European countries, given that the research was predominantly conducted in Anglophone settings. In addition, these studies have mostly been conducted in urban areas. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the main determinants of food insecurity among adults living in peri-urban areas in Flanders, Belgium. Data on socio-demographics, neighborhood social cohesion, social isolation, and perceived food environments were collected from 567 adults through a self-administered questionnaire, and objective data on the food environment were obtained through (commercial) databases on food outlets. Food insecurity was measured using the USDA Household Food Security Survey Module. Multivariable logistic regression models revealed that lower socioeconomic status (OR14.11,95%CI:4.72;61.11), reasonable (OR4.16,95%CI: 2.11;8.47) to poor and very poor (OR6.54,95%CI: 2.11;8.47) subjective health status, and living in private (OR7.01, 95% CI:3.0;17.0) or government-assisted (OR6.32,95%CI: 3.13;13.26) rental housing significantly increased the odds of food insecurity. Additionally, residing in a neighborhood with low (OR2.64, 95% CI:1.13;6.26) to medium (OR2.45,95% CI:1.21;5.11) social cohesion, having a neutral opinion (OR4.12,95%CI:1.51;11.54) about the availability of fruit and vegetables in one's neighborhood, and having an opinion that fruit and vegetable prices are too expensive (OR5.43,95% CI 2.26;14.4) significantly increased the odds of experiencing food insecurity. This study underscores the need for policies that consider factors related to social and food environments, in addition to individual factors, to effectively address food insecurity.
食品不安全是一个与非传染性疾病相关的全球性公共卫生问题。个体因素与食品不安全密切相关，但在非英语国家，关于社会和食品环境对食品不安全的更广泛影响的文献有限，因为这些研究主要在英语环境中进行。此外，这些研究大多在城市地区进行。因此，本研究旨在确定居住在比利时佛兰德斯地区的成年人中食品不安全的主要决定因素。通过自填式问卷收集了 567 名成年人的社会人口统计学、邻里社会凝聚力、社会孤立和感知食品环境方面的数据，并通过食品销售点的（商业）数据库获得了客观的食品环境数据。使用美国农业部家庭食品安全调查模块测量食品不安全情况。多变量逻辑回归模型显示，较低的社会经济地位（OR14.11，95%CI：4.72；61.11）、合理（OR4.16，95%CI：2.11；8.47）到较差和极差（OR6.54，95%CI：2.11；8.47）的主观健康状况，以及居住在私人（OR7.01，95%CI：3.0；17.0）或政府资助的（OR6.32，95%CI：3.13；13.26）租赁住房中显著增加了食品不安全的几率。此外，居住在社会凝聚力较低（OR2.64，95%CI：1.13；6.26）至中等（OR2.45，95%CI：1.21；5.11）的邻里环境中、对邻里中水果和蔬菜的供应持有中立观点（OR4.12，95%CI：1.51；11.54）以及认为水果和蔬菜价格太贵（OR5.43，95%CI 2.26；14.4）显著增加了食品不安全的几率。本研究强调需要制定政策，除了个体因素外，还要考虑社会和食品环境相关因素，以有效解决食品不安全问题。
