Use of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale to assess food security status in Ireland, 2014–17: a cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

BackgroundFood poverty became an issue for many families in Ireland after the economic crash in 2007–08. This country started recovering from the crisis after 2009, and Ireland was ranked among the countries best able to feed their population. Even though economic recovery has begun in Ireland, it will take time for it to reach all families. We aimed to assess individuals' food security status and to determine the major drivers of food security in Ireland MethodsIn this cross-sectional analysis, data from the Gallup World Poll were analysed (2000 respondents in 2014, and 1000 respondents each in 2015, 2016, and 2017) to assess changes in food security status from 2014 to 2017. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) was used as the dependent variable. Sociodemographic factors and health-related and country-related indices were used as the principal independent variables. Descriptive analyses, and unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regression, were carried out. FindingsFood security status improved from 2014 to 2017 (773 respondents [77·6%] were food secure in 2014; 812 [81·8%] in 2015, 875 [87·5%] in 2016, 894 [89·7%] in 2017). The results of the unadjusted binary logistic regression indicated that there was no significant association between sex and food security status. However, in comparison to food secure individuals, the probability of being food insecure increased among young people aged 13–25 years (odds ratio 1·9, 95% CI 1·3–2·6), people who got divorced, were separated, or were widowed (1·6, 1·2–2·1), and people with low education (1·7, 1·2–2·3), who were unemployed (3·7, 2·7–5·2), living in the poorest 20% per capita income quintiles (7·3, 5·1–10·2), had a poor financial life index (20·9, 14·4–30·3), a poor local job index (2·3, 1·9–2·7), or poor personal health (5·1, 4·1–6·4). Findings from the adjusted model indicated that a poor financial life index was strongly associated with food insecurity (16·1, 10·7–24·4). InterpretationA very strong association was observed between food security status and financial life index. This index measures both personal and community economic conditions. FundingNone.