Exacerbation of household food insecurity among low-income families in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: The economic depression and reduced physical mobility associated with COVID-19 potentially affected the food security status of the poor. This study aimed to assess the possible worsening of perceived food insecurity among low-income families in Hong Kong. METHODS: Families either receiving government subsidies or living in a subdivided flat referred by local non-governmental organisations were invited to participate in a telephone survey. Food security status before (by recalling) and during the pandemic were assessed using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Chi-square analysis and ANOVA were used to test the difference between the percentage of participants who responded affirmatively to survey questions and various categories of food insecurity. Paired t-test was used to examine the reported change in food insecurity score before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Association between socio-demographic factors and change in food insecurity score was then assessed by multiple linear regression using backward stepwise elimination. RESULTS: Findings from the 212 households revealed that, for all nine questions concerning food insecurity, there was a significantly higher percentage of affirmative responses during versus before the pandemic. The proportion of food-secure households dropped from 16.5% to 7.1% amidst the pandemic. By contrast, households with severe food insecurity increased from 19.3% to 33.5%. Regression analysis showed that those households who were living in subdivided flats and with high monthly housing expenses, were likely to experience an exacerbation of food insecurity. Meanwhile, households with divorced parents (probably due to consistent social subsidy) and high household incomes, showed resilience toward food insecurity. Concurrently, about one fifth of children in these households had an experience of starvation for a whole day due to financial constraints. CONCLUSION: The exacerbation of food insecurity among low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates timely assessments and the implementation of appropriate measures to prevent them from experiencing physiological harm. These initiatives can be guided by the identified at-risk socio-economic characteristics in the present study.

Food Avoidance Beliefs and Behaviors Among Chinese Cancer Patients: Validation of a New Measurement Tool.

OBJECTIVE: Restrictive food avoidance behavior among Chinese cancer patients is common. Yet, to the authors' knowledge, no study has investigated factors associated with such behavior. This study attempted to validate a new measurement tool, the Cancer Patients Food Avoidance Behaviors Scale (CPFAB), that assessed cancer patients' belief regarding 5 perceived benefits of practicing food avoidance, and to test its applicability. DESIGN: Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews. SETTING: Two outpatient oncology clinics in 2 different districts of Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 245 patients with nasopharyngeal and colorectal cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Assessment of psychometric properties of the CPFAB. ANALYSIS: Principal components method with oblique (Promax) rotations was performed to investigate the factor structure of the CPFAB. RESULTS: Psychometric properties, which included test-retest intraclass correlations (mean = 0.72; SD = 0.12), Cronbach α (.88-.94), floor (0.4% to 5.7%) and ceiling (0% to 7.3%) effects, and item-subscale (0.67-0.79) and subscale-total (0.68-0.89) correlations, were satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The CPFAB, a new instrument used to assess food avoidance, was developed and validated. It showed satisfactory psychometric properties and can be used to evaluate interventions that seek to modify food avoidance attitudes among cancer patients.

Comparison of health risk behavior, awareness, and health benefit beliefs of health science and non-health science students: An international study.

This study determines the differences in health risk behavior, knowledge, and health benefit beliefs between health science and non-health science university students in 17 low and middle income countries. Anonymous questionnaire data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 13,042 undergraduate university students (4,981 health science and 8,061 non-health science students) from 17 universities in 17 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Results indicate that overall, health science students had the same mean number of health risk behaviors as non-health science university students. Regarding addictive risk behavior, fewer health science students used tobacco, were binge drinkers, or gambled once a week or more. Health science students also had a greater awareness of health behavior risks (5.5) than non-health science students (4.6). Linear regression analysis found a strong association with poor or weak health benefit beliefs and the health risk behavior index. There was no association between risk awareness and health risk behavior among health science students and an inverse association among non-health science students.

Maternal influences on fruit and vegetable consumption of schoolchildren: case study in Hong Kong.

This study investigated whether the consumption of fruit and vegetable by Chinese primary students in Hong Kong is associated with their mother's (1) nutrition knowledge on fruit and vegetables; (2) attitude towards healthy eating; and (3) fruit and vegetable consumption. Fourth- and fifth-grade students from 10 primary schools located in different districts, along with their mothers, were invited to each fill-in a questionnaire related to their diet intake. Accomplished questionnaires were matched and analysed. There were 1779 mother-child pairs who were successfully matched. Chi-square analysis revealed that students' fruit consumption is associated with their mother's (1) knowledge on fruit and vegetables (P = 0.006); (2) attitude towards healthy eating (P = 0.010); and (3) fruit consumption (P < 0.001). Students' vegetable consumption exhibited the same association with their mother's (1) knowledge (P < 0.001), (2) attitude towards healthy eating (P = 0.005), and (3) vegetable consumption (P < 0.001). Logistic regression showed that knowledge, attitude and dietary practice of mothers were independent factors associated with the consumption of fruit and vegetables by students and are not influenced by the level of education and household income. The results highlight the important role of parents in promoting fruit and vegetable consumption to primary students. It reaffirmed the importance of parent nutrition education in the formulation of a comprehensive health promotion strategy to school-aged children.