Abstract

BERNAL, Jennifer  and  AGUDELO MARTINEZ, Alejandra. Measurement of food-nutrition insecurity, hunger and coping strategies in children and adolescents in Medellin-Colombia. ALAN [online]. 2020, vol.70, n.1, pp.20-29.  Epub Nov 20, 2020. ISSN 0004-0622.  https://doi.org/10.37527/2020.70.1.003.

Food insecurity (FI) and hunger affected 820 million people in the world, 187 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 18.5 million in Latin America lived the worst severe food crises, and more than half of the Colombian population live with FI. FI in children and adolescents has been little measure, partly due to absence of valid and reliable instruments in Colombia. The aim of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the FI and coping strategies (CS) tools in children and adolescents. Cross-sectional study (n = 4051) carried out in Medellín-Colombia. A 10-ítemes scale is used to measure FI and 9-ítemes scale capture the CS. SPSS v21 program was used to analyze data. Principal component analysis (PCA), validity and reliability were applied. Seven out of 10 children mentioned they were worry for FI. PCA showed two main components of FI: 1. Related with quantity, quality and worry about food; 2. Hunger episodes, that explain 57% of variance. PCA of the CS scale resulted in one component that explains 43% of variance. FI and CS instruments resulted in good reliability α-Cronbach 0.78; 0.82). FI instrument was validated by comparing it with height-for-age indicator, which showed an association between stunting (low height-for-age) and food insecurity. This study is the first to show that children and adolescents living in Medellín are facing FI and CS. The FI and CS scales used were found to be highly valid and reliable.

Keywords : Food security; hunger; children; adolescents; malnutrition; Colombia.

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