Abstract
Food stress, a similar concept to housing stress, occurs when a household needs to spend more than 25% of their disposable income on food. Households at risk of food stress are vulnerable to food insecurity as a result of inadequate income. A Food Stress Index (FSI) identifies at-risk households, in a particular geographic area, using a range of variables to create a single indicator. Candidate variables were identified using a multi-dimensional framework consisting of household demographics, household income, household expenses, financial stress indicators, food security, food affordability and food availability. The candidate variables were expressed as proportions, of either persons or households, in a geographic area. Principal Component Analysis was used to determine the final variables which resulted in a final set of weighted raw scores. These scores were then scaled to produce the index scores for the Food Stress Index for Western Australia. The results were compared with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas to determine suitability. The Food Stress Index was found to be a suitable indicator of the relative risk of food stress in Western Australian households. The FSI adds specificity to indices of relative disadvantage specifically related to food insecurity and provides a useful tool for prioritising policy and other responses to this important public health issue.
Highlights
The different Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) measure various aspects of socio-economic status
Starting with a broad list of potential or candidate variables covering all aspects of food stress and socio-economic indicators, Principal Component Analysis [23] was used to reduce these variables to a single index which indicates the likelihood households in the selected geographic area are suffering food stress
The Food Stress Index was created for 76 Statistical Area 2 (SA2) in Western Australia
Summary
The different Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) measure various aspects of socio-economic status. In order to measure food insecurity, these indexes need to be used in conjunction with other data such as food costs to provide an indication of the impact of socio-economic status and food costs on health [2,3,4,5,6]. The concept of a Food Stress Index (FSI) is to provide a simple indication of the potential for food stress of households in a particular geographic location which may be postcode, Statistical Area, Local. It is a single index that encompasses all aspects of food insecurity to provide information about the likelihood households in a geographic area are suffering food stress
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