A Generation at Risk: The Impacts of Lebanon's Escalating Humanitarian Crisis on Children

Abouzeid, Marian; Halwani, Dana A.; Mokdad, Ali H.; Habib, Rima R.

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.704678

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Lebanon once considered the Switzerland of the Levant, and its capital, Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East” ( 1 ), are facing an escalating humanitarian juncture arising due to multiple concurrent crises: a massive economic collapse, the August 4 tragic Beirut Port blast, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ( 2 ). These overlapping crises continue to have serious repercussions on the country's economic viability, political stability, and the food and health security of its population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial Wellbeing and Quality of Life Among a Sample of the Lebanese Population: The Mediating Effect of Food Insecurity

Karam

Haddad

Sacre³

et al. 2022

Front. Nutr.

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BackgroundLebanon is undergoing multiple overlapping crises, affecting the food security, financial well-being, and quality of life (QOL) of its residents.ObjectiveThe primary objective was to assess the food insecurity (FI) status of a sample of the Lebanese population. The second objective was to explore factors related to QOL parameters and evaluate the mediating effect of food security between financial well-being and QOL.MethodsThe study was cross-sectional and enrolled 412 participants recruited online using the snowball sampling technique. The survey included questions related to sociodemographic and economic characteristics of Lebanese households and validated scales to assess FI, QOL measures, financial well-being, and fear of COVID-19.ResultsAlmost 43% of the study participants reported being food insecure, with 31% experiencing mild FI, 10% moderate FI, and 1.5% severe FI. Compared to food-insecure participants, food secure participants had a significantly higher income (58.5% vs. 39.2%, p < 0.001), a university education level (96.6% vs. 88.1%, p = 0.002), an average perceived financial status (83.9% vs. 65.9%), higher financial well-being scores (5.14 vs. 3.19, p < 0.001), and lower crowding index (0.94 ± 0.4 vs. 1.09, p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that FI was not associated with physical (Beta = −1.48, 95% CI: −3.10; 0.13) and mental (Beta = −1.46, 95% CI −3.68; 0.75) QOL, after adjusting for other demographic and socioeconomic correlates. This association remained non-significant when introducing the financial well-being variable to the model. Mediation analyses showed that the FI variable mediated the association between financial well-being and physical QOL (Beta = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.02; 0.36), but not the mental QOL (Beta = −0.02, 95% CI: −0.20; 0.14).ConclusionFood insecurity was prevalent in our study sample, and it mediated the association between financial well-being and physical, but not mental, QOL parameters. These findings call for evidence-based policies and programs to help improve the food security and well-being of Lebanese households amidst these unprecedented circumstances.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial Wellbeing and Quality of Life Among a Sample of the Lebanese Population: The Mediating Effect of Food Insecurity

Karam

Haddad

Sacre³

et al. 2022

Front. Nutr.

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“…Having parents with a higher educational level may be thus a protective factor for children's mental health [51]. Such problems can be also deteriorated by the current situation in Lebanon, as the Lebanese massive economic collapse characterized by garbage crisis, cancer clusters, failure to provide reliable electricity supply, and lack of access to healthcare has had adverse consequences on children's mental health and wellbeing [52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s Well-Being Post the Pandemic and Amid the Economic Crisis in Lebanon

Nasr

Haddad

Raidan

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: The outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 prompted schools to shift their classes from a physical learning environment to an online one to implement measures of social distancing to limit the spread of the pandemic. This disruption negatively influenced the social interaction of children and their well-being. In Lebanon, the situation was further exacerbated due to the severe economic crisis that had and still has obvious negative effects on the well-being of children. This study aims to investigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis on the mental health of Lebanese children aged 5 to 14 years old and to assess their well-being in a post-pandemic world. Method: A quantitative research design was adopted, and the validated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to collect data. 966 responses were collected, among which 627 parental reports and 339 teacher reports. Descriptive analysis was conducted for categorical variables and continuous measures. Means were compared using the independent-sample t-test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Pearson correlation test was used to evaluate the association between continuous variables. And a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to compare the total SDQ difficulties score and sub-scores between the teacher and parents. Results: 34% of the study population are categorized as abnormal and 14.9% as borderline according to the SDQ score, and an expansion of mental health problems among these children is indicated. The study reveals that the most common mental health problems identified among these children are respectively conduct problems, peer, emotional, and hyperactivity problems, and prosocial problems. The main factors impacting the high rates of mental health problems among Lebanese children are gender, parental control, lack of discipline, poor-quality education background, parenting problems, low family income, physical defects among children, and the political situation of the country. Conclusion: This study highlights the necessity of promoting mental health awareness among parents and teachers and adopting intervention and prevention measures to help children in Lebanon deal with mental health challenges caused by the pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis.

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“…The worsening of the economic status in the Lebanese population led to a reduction in the Lebanese monthly income and a shortage in food affordability especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and as a negative outcome of the lockdown [ 33 ]. Food insecurity is expected to be higher during these difficult times where the country is facing many financial, political, economic and health debates that put Lebanon in need of urgent policies to ensure food security, limiting by these the burden of the current situation on the Lebanese population, especially Lebanese children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food insecurity and eating habits of Lebanese children aged 5–11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic and the socioeconomic crisis: a national study

2022

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Background Food insecurity is the lack of access to nutritious healthy food due to economic and financial insufficiencies. Food insecurity is expected to be higher during these difficult times in Lebanon, which is facing many financial, political, economic and health debates. The present study aims to find the prevalence of food insecurity among Lebanese children during the COVID-19 pandemic and its correlates. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 4001 participants from all Lebanese governorates (March–April 2022). The Ministry of Education and Higher Education randomly disseminated the link to parents of children aged between 5 and 11 years from public and private schools. Results The results showed that 1505 (37.6%) and 1497 (37.4%) had moderate and severe food insecurity. A significantly higher percentage of families with severe food insecurity was reported by fathers compared to mothers. In addition, participants who reported a bad overall health status of their children had a severe food insecurity. Moreover, those with a severe food insecurity had their children’s daily snacking habit between meals decreased, with a decreased quantity of meals, intake of vegetables/fruits, the intake of balanced diet, junk food, sugar-sweetened beverages, consumption of sweets/candies/chocolate, consumption of unhealthy food, intake of immunity-boosting food, intake of nutrition supplements, participation in the house chores, number of sleeping hours and sleep quality, as well as stress/anxiety decreased. Finally, a higher mean financial burden was seen in families with severe food insecurity compared to the other groups. Conclusion The current study found a high prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity among Lebanese children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insecurity should be seriously discussed in Lebanon due to its rapid development in the middle of all the crises facing the country in order to avoid short and long term consequences on human’s health.

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A Generation at Risk: The Impacts of Lebanon's Escalating Humanitarian Crisis on Children

Cited by 29 publications

References 15 publications

Financial Wellbeing and Quality of Life Among a Sample of the Lebanese Population: The Mediating Effect of Food Insecurity

Financial Wellbeing and Quality of Life Among a Sample of the Lebanese Population: The Mediating Effect of Food Insecurity

Children’s Well-Being Post the Pandemic and Amid the Economic Crisis in Lebanon

Food insecurity and eating habits of Lebanese children aged 5–11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic and the socioeconomic crisis: a national study

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