Food Insecurity and Associated Factors in Brazilian Undergraduates during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Nutrients
; 14(2)2022 Jan 14.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1625463
ABSTRACT
Undergraduates may face challenges to assure food security, related to economic and mental distress, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess food insecurity and its associated factors in undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2020 to February 2021 with 4775 undergraduates from all Brazilian regions. The questionnaire contained socio-economic variables, the validated Brazilian food insecurity scale, and the ESQUADA scale to assess diet quality. The median age of the students was 22.0 years, and 48.0% reported income decreasing with the pandemic. Food insecurity was present in 38.6% of the students, 4.5% with severe food insecurity and 7.7% moderate. Logistic regressions showed students with brown and black skin color/race presented the highest OR for food insecurity; both income and weight increase or reduction during the pandemic was also associated with a higher OR for food insecurity, and better diet quality was associated with decreased OR for food insecurity. Our study showed a considerable presence of food insecurity in undergraduates. Policy for this population must be directed to the most vulnerable those with brown and black skin color/race, who changed income during the pandemic, and those presented with difficulties maintaining weight and with poor diet quality.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Students
/
Diet
/
Food Supply
/
Food Insecurity
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Nu14020358
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