Household Food Insecurity in Canada: Problem Definition and Potential Solutions in the Public Policy Domain

McIntyre, Lynn; Patterson, Patrick B.; Anderson, Laura; Mah, Catherine L.

doi:10.3138/cpp.2015-066

Cited by 35 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Despite more than two decades of population-level measurement, the conditions that give rise to household food insecurity remain poorly understood and food insecurity reduction has not been a priority for public policy intervention [33, 34]. Although some provincial policy decisions have been associated with changes in food insecurity rates [35–37], there has been little analysis of how vulnerability relates to province or territory of residence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12

2019

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BackgroundHousehold food insecurity is a potent social determinant of health and health care costs in Canada, but understanding of the social and economic conditions that underlie households’ vulnerability to food insecurity is limited.MethodsData from the 2011–12 Canadian Community Health Survey were used to determine predictors of household food insecurity among a nationally-representative sample of 120,909 households. Household food insecurity over the past 12 months was assessed using the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module. Households were classified as food secure or marginally, moderately, or severely food insecure based on the number of affirmative responses. Multivariable binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to determine geographic and socio-demographic predictors of presence and severity of household food insecurity.ResultsThe prevalence of household food insecurity ranged from 11.8% in Ontario to 41.0% in Nunavut. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, households’ odds of food insecurity were lower in Quebec and higher in the Maritimes, territories, and Alberta, compared to Ontario. The adjusted odds of food insecurity were also higher among households reliant on social assistance, Employment Insurance or workers’ compensation, those without a university degree, those with children under 18, unattached individuals, renters, and those with an Aboriginal respondent. Higher income, immigration, and reliance on seniors’ income sources were protective against food insecurity. Living in Nunavut and relying on social assistance were the strongest predictors of severe food insecurity, but severity was also associated with income, education, household composition, Aboriginal status, immigration status, and place of residence. The relation between income and food insecurity status was graded, with every $1000 increase in income associated with 2% lower odds of marginal food insecurity, 4% lower odds of moderate food insecurity, and 5% lower odds of severe food insecurity.ConclusionsThe probability of household food insecurity in Canada and the severity of the experience depends on a household’s province or territory of residence, income, main source of income, housing tenure, education, Aboriginal status, and household structure. Our findings highlight the intersection of household food insecurity with public policy decisions in Canada and the disproportionate burden of food insecurity among Indigenous peoples.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-6344-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12

2019

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“…The HFI as a SDH discourse raises the issue of HFI to the public policy level. It accurately places HFI within the context of a declining welfare state whose policies create the lack of economic resources necessary to purchase food (McIntyre et al, 2016b). Research efforts examining the impact of welfare state policies on food security outcomes include: increased social assistance and rental assistance programs (Li et al, 2016a), age limits for the Canada pension plan (Emery et al, 2013), and the examination of food stamp programs in Canada (Power et al, 2015).…”

Section: Household Food Insecurity As a Social Determinant Of Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are limitations to pluralism as a model of public policy change, in that it fails to consider the role political ideology and political power play in the policymaking process (Bryant, 2015). In response to such failures, some adherents of HFI as SDH are drawing upon institutionalist models of policy change to identify means of reducing HFI (McIntyre et al, 2016a;McIntyre et al, 2016b). Institutionalist models argue that societal institutions structure public policymaking and policy change outcomes.…”

Section: Household Food Insecurity As a Social Determinant Of Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To gain insights into these ideas and how these might be altered, adherents of HFI as SDH are carrying out detailed analyses of how policymakers frame the problem of HFI, and suggest advocates should take account of these frameworks for advancing their arguments (McIntyre et al, 2016a;McIntyre et al, 2016b). Institutionalism as an approach also assumes -like pluralism -that governments act in the interests of the majority by seeking public policy solutions to maximize benefits and limit liabilities (Bryant and Raphael, 2015).…”

Section: Household Food Insecurity As a Social Determinant Of Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Competing Discourses of Household Food Insecurity in Canada

Mendly-Zambo¹,

Raphael²

2018

Social Policy and Society

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Household food insecurity (HFI) impacts over 1.7 million households in Canada with adverse effects upon health. As a signatory to numerous international covenants asserting that access to food is a human right, Canadian governments are obliged to reduce HFI, yet Canadian governments have done remarkably little to assure that Canadians are food secure. In the absence of government action, HFI has spawned numerous non-governmental means of managing the problem such as food banks, feeding programs, and community gardens and kitchens. These efforts have depoliticized the problem of HFI, making its solution more difficult. Solving HFI is also complicated by the presence of five competing discourses of HFI in Canada: nutrition and dietetics, charitable food distribution, community development, social determinants of health, and political economy which offer differing causes and means of responding to HFI. We argue that the least considered discourse – the critical materialist political economy discourse – best accounts for the presence of HFI in a liberal welfare state such as Canada and provides the most effective means of responding to its presence.

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“…Despite their influence, few studies internationally have explored how parliamentarians frame PHN issues. A small number of studies on the political framing of food insecurity in Canada demonstrate that although a diversity of opposing causes and solutions frames are deployed by parliamentarians, the framing of some key issues (including poverty) is universal and uncontested (41)(42)(43) . However, these studies also show that conflicting frames and opposing symbolic devices deployed by opposing parties contributes to the intractability of PHN problems, thereby resulting in a lack of political commitment for legislative change (44) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The political construction of public health nutrition problems: a framing analysis of parliamentary debates on junk-food marketing to children in Australia

Russell

Lawrence

Cullerton

et al. 2020

Public Health Nutr.

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AbstractObjective:Junk-food marketing contributes significantly to childhood obesity, which in turn imposes major health and economic burdens. Despite this, political priority for addressing junk-food marketing has been weak in many countries. Competing interests, worldviews and beliefs of stakeholders involved with the issue contribute to this political inertia. An integral group of actors for driving policy change are parliamentarians, who champion policy and enact legislation. However, how parliamentarians interpret and portray (i.e. frame) the causes and solutions of public health nutrition problems is poorly understood. The present study aimed to understand how Australian parliamentarians from different political parties frame the problem of junk-food marketing.Design:Framing analysis of transcripts from the Australian Government’s Parliamentary Hansard, involving development of a theoretical framework, data collection, coding transcripts and thematic synthesis of results.Settings:Australia.Participants:None.Results:Parliamentarian framing generally reflected political party ideology. Liberal parliamentarians called for minimal government regulation and greater personal responsibility, reflecting the party’s core values of liberalism and neoliberalism. Greens parliamentarians framed the issue as systemic, highlighting the need for government intervention and reflecting the core party value of social justice. Labor parliamentarians used both frames at varying times.Conclusions:Parliamentarians’ framing was generally consistent with their party ideology, though subject to changes over time. This project provides insights into the role of framing and ideology in shaping public health policy responses and may inform communication strategies for nutrition advocates. Advocates might consider using frames that resonate with the ideologies of different political parties and adapting these over time.

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Household Food Insecurity in Canada: Problem Definition and Potential Solutions in the Public Policy Domain

Cited by 35 publications

References 27 publications

Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12

Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12

Competing Discourses of Household Food Insecurity in Canada

The political construction of public health nutrition problems: a framing analysis of parliamentary debates on junk-food marketing to children in Australia

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