Abstract
BackgroundSocial inequalities in nutrition lead a high number of families to struggle with food insecurity, even in developed countries. We aimed to assess the impact of fruits and vegetables vouchers on food security among disadvantaged households from a Paris suburb.MethodsWe used a pre-post assessment design. Families answered face-to-face questionnaires on food consumption and food security status before and after a randomly assigned intervention. Households in the intervention group received vouchers to buy exclusively fruits and vegetables over one year. Both intervention and control groups benefitted from nutritional education through workshops performed by dieticians during the study period. The Household Food Security Module (HFSM) was used to assess food security status of households at inclusion. Food Insufficiency Indicator (FSI) was used to assess food security at inclusion and follow-up. Evolution of FSI on both groups was evaluated using McNemar test.ResultsAmong the 91 families included between May 2015 and May 2016, 64 completed the post assessment questionnaire. At inclusion, 68.3% of families were experiencing food insecurity and 78.1% were experiencing food insufficiency. No association was found between food consumptions and food security status. After one-year follow-up, the prevalence of food insufficiency was significantly decreased in the intervention group (61.8%, with p value = 0.03), and unchanged in the control group.ConclusionIn this pilot study, food insufficiency was significantly decreased in families receiving vouchers for fruits and vegetables over a one-year period.Trial registrationNCT02461238, registered 3 June 2015 – Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02461238
Highlights
Social inequalities in nutrition lead a high number of families to struggle with food insecurity, even in developed countries
(2019) 5:26 web of food aid structures – more than 250 were identified during a study performed in France in 2012 among the beneficiaries of food aid – a large number of disadvantaged households are exposed to food insecurity (FI) [18,19,20]
Among the 64 families who answered the last questionnaire after one-year follow-up, food insufficiency assessed by the Food Insufficiency Indicator (FSI) was significantly decreased in the intervention group (61.8% vs 85.3% at inclusion, with p = 0.03), while it remained stable (70%) in the control group (p = 1.0)
Summary
Social inequalities in nutrition lead a high number of families to struggle with food insecurity, even in developed countries. Several studies assessing the impact of specific food vouchers on nutritional behaviour among disadvantaged population have been conducted in Europe, USA, and New-Zealand [22,23,24,25,26,27,28] Overall, they show positive results on dietary habits, when supported by a nutritional education program. It primarily aimed to assess the impact of fruits and vegetables vouchers and nutritional education over a one-year period on fruits and vegetables consumption among children from low-income families The purposes of this ancillary analysis of the FLAM study were to 1) describe food insecurity prevalence and its association with sociodemographic characteristics and food consumption, and 2) determine whether the intervention improved food security among FLAM participants
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