Abstract
Abstract Background Food insecurity has important effects on human health, particularly in children’s. It continues to increase, with an estimated prevalence of 14.9% in the USA and 35% in Brazil. There have been few studies on the effect of cash transfer programs (CTPs) on the prevalence of food security in Brazil. Objective Evaluate the association between cash transfer programs and reductions in inequity and food insecurity. Method Population-based cross-sectional study in the state of Ceará, Northeast Brazil, with a sample of 8.000 households. Ceará is one of the poorest states. The state population of 8.5 million inhabitants, social security benefits and government grants, “ Bolsa Família”, have become the most stable source of income. The main outcomes measures were food insecurity and CTP participation. Multivariate logistic models were constructed to assess the association between participation in CTPs and food security. Results Participation in CTPs was found to be independently related to the prevalence of food security (APR 2.29 95% CI 1.57-3.33), as are education level, residential setting, and children’s nutritional status. Conclusions CTPs and investment in education are initiatives that might be used to reduce food insecurity.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food security exists when people have, at all times, access to enough nutritious and safe food to maintain healthy and active lives[1]
Of the 1,489 families with children under three years old who were studied, less than half (46.3%) reported eating food of adequate quantity or quality within the past 12 months; 22.8% reported eating enough food but noted that it was not of the desired type; 24.5% reported sometimes not having enough food for their needs, whereas 6.4% always had food shortages at home. (Table 1) Given that, the last two categories represent a quantitative insufficiency of food, it is estimated that a prevalence of 30.9% of families with children under three years suffered from food insecurity in the sample
Participation in the cash transfer program (CPT) was classified into three categories: participant in the cash transfer programs (CTPs), eligible for the CTP but not participating and ineligible for the CTP, with eligibility determined by the criterion used by the Brazilian Government of a per capita monthly income below 30 USD
Summary
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food security exists when people have, at all times, access to enough nutritious and safe food to maintain healthy and active lives[1]. Food insecurity has important effects on human health, children’s health. Food insecurity has important effects on human health, in children’s. It continues to increase, with an estimated prevalence of 14.9% in the USA and 35% in Brazil. There have been few studies on the effect of cash transfer programs (CTPs) on the prevalence of food security in Brazil. The state population of 8.5 million inhabitants, social security benefits and government grants, “Bolsa Família”, have become the most stable source of income.The main outcomes measures were food insecurity and CTP participation. Results: Participation in CTPs was found to be independently related to the prevalence of food security (APR 2.29 95% CI 1.57-3.33), as are education level, residential setting, and children’s nutritional status.
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