Food insecurity and associated factors in brazilian undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Autor(a) principal: Maciel, Bruna Leal Lima
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Lyra, Clélia de Oliveira, Gomes, Jéssica Raissa Carlos, Rolim, Priscilla Moura, Gorgulho, Bartira Mendes, Nogueira, Patrícia Simone, Rodrigues, Paulo Rogério Melo, Silva, Tiago Feitosa da, Martins, Fernanda Andrade, Dalamaria, Tatiane, Santos, Thanise Sabrina Souza, Höfelmann, Doroteia Aparecida, Crispim, Sandra Patrícia, Slater, Betzabeth, Ramalho, Alanderson Alves, Marchioni, Dirce Maria
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRN
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/57448; http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14020358
• topic: Diet quality; Nutrition; Food security

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