Food Insecurity and Affecting Factors in Households with Children During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To examine the incidence of food insecurity and affecting factors in households with children in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: This is a cross-sectional study. Setting: The participants were recruited by the snowball sampling method and the data were collected via a link sent to their smart mobile phones through their social media accounts. Participants: This study included 211 households with at least one child. Results: The study revealed that 21.8% households had food insecurity that was not at the hunger threshold. The monthly income of 80.6% of the households was below the poverty line and monthly income decreased in more than half of the households during the pandemic. Food insecurity increased 2.5 times when the households comprised workers or self-employed individuals (OR=2.529, p=0.002), increased 3 times when the monthly income of the households decreased (OR=3.131, p=0.000), and increased 2 times when total monthly income of the household fell below poverty line during the pandemic (OR=2.001, p=0.049). Conclusion: It is determined that nearly half the households have food insecurity and that the pandemic poses a risk in terms of food security. We recommend that public health studies should be planned to ensure accessibility to healthy foods.