Magnitude and spatial distribution of food and nutrition security during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tucumán (Argentina)

CORDERO, MARIA LAURA; CESANI, MARIA FLORENCIA

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2021

1042-0533

Objective: To describe the magnitude and spatial distribution of household food and nutrition security (FNS) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tucumán (Argentina) and identify food insecurity associated factors. Methods: During April and May 2020 a cross-sectional quantitative study was performed. Data from 3915 households were analyzed. The study of FNS was performed with the Latin American and Caribbean Scale for Food Security. To identify associated factors, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied.Results: Household food insecurity affected 55.9% of the sample (mild: 39.3%, moderate: 10.8%, severe: 5.8%). Analysing the spatial distribution, eastern area showed the highest food insecurity prevalence, followed by the south and west areas. Logistic regression analysis showed that household food insecurity varied according to household size, presence of children, socioeconomic status and health area of residence.Conclusions: Household size, presence of children, socioeconomic status and public health area of residence were associated to household food insecurity. The perception of hunger was higher in larger households, in those with low and medium socioeconomic status and in households located in the southern area of the province.