Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T12:23:45.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Self-administration of a food security scale by adolescents: item functioning, socio-economic position and food intakes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Martin C Gulliford ,
Deepak Mahabir ,
Cheryl Nunes  and
Brian Rocke
Martin C Gulliford*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Sciences, King's College London, Capital House, 42 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QD, UK
Deepak Mahabir
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Division, Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago
Cheryl Nunes
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Division, Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago
Brian Rocke
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Division, Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago
*
*Corresponding author: Email martin.gulliford@kcl.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective

To evaluate the reliability and validity of a six-item food security scale when self-administered by adolescents.

Design

Cross-sectional questionnaire survey including the six-item food security measure, socio-economic variables and a food-frequency questionnaire.

Setting

Representative sample of 29 schools in Trinidad.

Subjects

In total 1903 students aged approximately 16 years.

Results

Item affirmatives ranged from 514 (27%) for the ‘balanced meal’ item to 128 (7%) for the ‘skipped or cut meals often’ item and 141 (7%) for the ‘hungry’ item. Item-score correlations ranged from 0.444 to 0.580. Cronbach's α was 0.77. Relative item severities from the Rasch model ranged from −1.622 (standard error 0.043) for the ‘balanced meal’ item to 1.103 (0.068) for the ‘skipped or cut meals often’ item and 0.944 (0.062) for the ‘hungry’ item. The ‘hungry’ item gave a slightly lower relative severity in boys than girls. Food insecurity was associated with household overcrowding (adjusted odds ratio comparing highest and lowest quartiles 2.61, 95% confidence interval 1.75 to 3.91), lack of pipe-borne water in the home, low paternal education or paternal unemployment. After adjusting for socio-economic variables, food insecurity was associated with less frequent consumption of fruit (0.75, 0.60 to 0.94) or fish (0.72, 0.58 to 0.88) but more frequent consumption of biscuits or cakes (1.47, 1.02 to 2.11).

Conclusions

The food security scale provides a valid, reliable measure in adolescents, although young people report being hungry but not eating relatively more frequently than adults. Food-insecure adolescents have low socio-economic position and may eat less healthy diets.

Keywords

Food securitySocio-economic positionDietary intakesAdolescents
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 7 , October 2005 , pp. 853 - 860
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

1Carlson, SJ, Andrews, MS, Bickel, GW. Measuring food insecurity and hunger in the United States: development of a national benchmark measure and prevalence estimates. Journal of Nutrition 1999; 129: 510S–6S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Bickel, G, Nord, M, Price, C, Hamilton, W, Cook, J. Measuring Food Security in the United States. Guide to Measuring Food Security,2000 revision. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, 2000.Google Scholar
3Blumberg, SJ, Bialostosky, K, Hamilton, WL, Briefel, RR. The effectiveness of a short form of the household food security scale. American Journal of Public Health 1999; 89: 1231–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Tingay, RS, Tan, CJ, Tan, NCW, Tang, S, Teoh, PF, Wong, R, et al. Food insecurity and low income in an English inner city. Journal of Public Health Medicine 2003; 25: 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Gulliford, MC, Mahabir, D, Rocke, B. Food insecurity, food choices, and body mass index in adults: nutrition transition in Trinidad and Tobago. International Journal of Epidemiology 2003; 32: 508–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Tarasuk, VS. Household food insecurity with hunger is associated with women's food intakes, health and household circumstances. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131: 2670–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Kendall, A, Olson, CM, Frongillo, EA. Relationship of hunger and food insecurity to food availability and consumption. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1996; 96: 1019–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Townsend, MS, Peerson, J, Love, B, Achterberg, C, Murphy, SP. Food insecurity is positively related to overweight in women. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131: 1738–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Alaimo, K, Olson, CM, Frongillo, EA Jr. Food insufficiency and American school-aged children's cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development. Pediatrics 2001; 108: 44–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Connell, CL, Nord, M, Lofton, KL, Yadrick, K. Food security of older children can be assessed using a standardized survey instrument. Journal of Nutrition 2004; 134: 2566–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Nord, M. Measuring the food security of elderly persons. Family Economics and Nutrition Review 2003; 15: 33–46. Available at http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/FENR/FENRv15n1/fenrv15n1p33.pdf. Accessed 23 September 2004.Google Scholar
12Gulliford, MC, Mahabir, D, Rocke, B. Reliability and validity of a short form household food security scale in a Caribbean community. BMC Public Health 2004; 4: 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13World Bank. World Development Indicators 2004. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004. Available at http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi2004/tables/table1-1.pdf. Accessed 24 September 2004.Google Scholar
14du Toit, M. IRT from SSI: BILOG-MG, MULTILOG, PARSCALE and, TESTFACT. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, 2003.Google Scholar
15Streiner, DL, Norman, GR. Health Measurement Scales. A Practical Guide to their Development and Use, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003; 72–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Perez-Escamilla, R, Segall-Correa, AM, Kurdian Maranha, L, Sampaio, MdFA, Marin-Leon, L, Panigassi, G. An adapted version of the US Department of Agriculture food insecurity module is a valid tool for assessing household food insecurity in Campinas, Brazil. Journal of Nutrition 2004; 134: 1923–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Harrison, GG, Stormer, A, Herman, DR, Winham, DM. Development of a Spanish-language version of the US household food security survey module. Journal of Nutrition 2003; 133: 1192–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Derrickson, JP, Sakai, M, Anderson, J. Interpretations of the ‘balanced meal’ household food security indicator. Journal of Nutrition Education 2001; 33: 155–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Wilde, PE. Differential response patterns affect food-security prevalence estimates for households with and without children. Journal of Nutrition 2004; 134: 1910–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Gulliford, M, Mahabir, D, Rocke, B. Food insecurity definitions and body mass index. Response. International Journal of Epidemiology 2003; 32: 1118–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Vertovec, S. Hindu Trinidad. Religion, Ethnicity and Socio-economic Change. London: Macmillan, 1992.Google Scholar
22Clarke, E. My Mother who Fathered Me. London: Allen and Unwin, 1966.Google Scholar
23Martin, KS, Rogers, BL, Cook, JT, Joseph, HM. Social capital is associated with decreased risk of hunger. Social Science & Medicine 2004; 58: 2645–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Casey, PH, Szeto, K, Lensing, S, Bogle, M, Weber, J. Children in food-insufficient, low-income families: prevalence, health, and nutrition status. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 2001; 155: 508–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Aguirre, P. Socio-anthropological aspects of obesity in poverty. In: Pena, M, Bacallao, J. eds. Obesity and Poverty: A New Public Health Challenge. Scientific Publication No. 576. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 2000; 11–22.Google Scholar
26Lahti-Koski, M, Pietinen, P, Heliovaara, M, Vartiainen, E. Associations of body mass index and obesity with physical activity, food choices, alcohol intake, and smoking in the 1982–1997 FINRISK studies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002; 75: 809–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Kant, AK. Consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods by adult Americans: nutritional and health implications. The third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000; 72: 929–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Erens, B, Primatesta, P. Health Survey for England 1998. Cardiovascular Disease. Vol. 1. Findings. London: The Stationery Office, 1999.Google Scholar
29Frongillo, EA. Commentary: Assessing food insecurity in Trinidad and Tobago. International Journal of Epidemiology 2003; 32: 516–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed