Ilori Temitope, Christofides Nicola, Baldwin-Ragaven Laurel
Family Medicine Unit, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Family Medicine, University of Ibadan/University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
BMC Nutr. 2024 Sep 18;10(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s40795-024-00929-8.
Rapid urbanisation without concomitant infrastructure development has led to the creation of urban slums throughout sub-Saharan Africa. People living in urban slums are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity due to the lack of physical and economic accessibility to food. Hence, it is important to explore how vulnerable groups living in slums interact with the food environment. This study assessed the relationships between food insecurity, including restrictive coping strategies, food purchasing patterns and perceptions about the food environment among dwellers of selected urban slums in Ibadan, Nigeria.
This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted with people responsible for food procurement from 590 randomly selected households in two urban slums in Ibadan. Food insecurity and restrictive coping strategies were assessed using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and the Coping Strategy Index, respectively. We examined purchasing patterns of participants by assessing the procurement of household foodstuffs in different categories, as well as by vendor type. Participants' perceptions of the food environment were derived through a five-item composite score measuring food availability, affordability and quality. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models analysed associations between food insecurity, purchasing patterns and perceptions of the food environment.
The prevalence of food insecurity in the sample was 88%, with 40.2% of the households experiencing severe food insecurity. Nearly a third (32.5%) of the households used restrictive coping strategies such as limiting the size of food portions at mealtimes, while 28.8% reduced the frequency of their daily meals. Participants purchased food multiple times a week, primarily from formal and informal food markets rather than from wholesalers and supermarkets. Only a few households grew food or had livestock (3.2%). Food insecure households had a lower perceived access to the food environment, with an approximate 10% increase in access score per one-unit decrease in food insecurity (AOR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.84, 0.96). The most procured foods among all households were fish (72.5%), bread (60.3%), rice (56.3%), yam and cassava flours (50.2%). Food-secure households procured fruit, dairy and vegetable proteins more frequently.
Food insecurity remains a serious public health challenge in the urban slums of Ibadan. Perceptions of greater access to the food environment was associated with increasing food security. Interventions should focus on creating more robust social and financial protections, with efforts to improve livelihoods to ensure food security among urban slum-dwellers.
撒哈拉以南非洲地区城市化进程迅速，但基础设施建设未能同步跟进，导致城市贫民窟不断涌现。由于缺乏获取食物的实际条件和经济能力，生活在城市贫民窟的人们特别容易面临粮食不安全问题。因此，探究生活在贫民窟的弱势群体与食物环境之间的相互作用非常重要。本研究评估了尼日利亚伊巴丹部分城市贫民窟居民的粮食不安全状况（包括限制性应对策略）、食品购买模式以及对食物环境的认知之间的关系。
本研究为基于社区的横断面研究，对伊巴丹两个城市贫民窟中590户随机选取家庭中负责食品采购的人员进行了调查。分别使用家庭粮食不安全获取量表和应对策略指数评估粮食不安全状况和限制性应对策略。我们通过评估不同类别家庭食品的采购情况以及供应商类型来考察参与者的购买模式。通过一个由五个项目组成的综合得分来衡量食物供应、可承受性和质量，从而得出参与者对食物环境的认知。采用卡方检验和逻辑回归模型分析粮食不安全、购买模式与食物环境认知之间的关联。
样本中粮食不安全的患病率为88%，其中40.2%的家庭面临严重粮食不安全。近三分之一（32.5%）的家庭采用了限制性应对策略，如在就餐时限制食物分量，28.8%的家庭减少了每日用餐次数。参与者每周多次购买食物，主要从正规和非正规食品市场购买，而非从批发商和超市购买。只有少数家庭种植粮食或饲养牲畜（3.2%）。粮食不安全家庭对食物环境的感知获取程度较低，粮食不安全程度每降低一个单位，获取得分大约增加10%（比值比=0.90，9�%置信区间：0.84，0.96）。所有家庭中采购最多的食品是鱼（72.5%）、面包（60.3%）、大米（56.3%）、山药和木薯粉（50.2%）。粮食安全家庭更频繁地采购水果、奶制品和植物蛋白。
在伊巴丹的城市贫民窟中，粮食不安全仍然是一个严峻的公共卫生挑战。对食物环境获取程度更高的认知与粮食安全状况的改善相关。干预措施应侧重于建立更强大的社会和经济保护机制，努力改善生计以确保城市贫民窟居民的粮食安全。
