Prevalence and Correlates of Food Insecurity among Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon: Data from a Household Survey

Abstract

Lebanon hosts the highest per capita refugee concentration worldwide. The Palestinian presence in Lebanon dates from 1948 and they remain a marginalized population. No information on their food security status has been reported previously. A survey of a representative sample of Palestinian refugee households in Lebanon (n = 2501) was conducted using a stratified two stage cluster sampling approach. We measured food insecurity using a modified USDA household food security module, locally validated. We collected data on household demographic, socioeconomic, health, housing, coping strategies and household intake of food groups and analysed these by food security status. About 41% (CI: 39-43) of households reported being food insecure and 20% (CI: 18-22) severely food insecure. Poor households were more likely to be severely food insecure (OR 1.41 (1.06-1.86)) while higher education of the head of household was significantly associated with protection against severe food insecurity (OR 0.66 (0.52-0.84)). Additionally, higher food expenditure and possession of food-related assets were significantly associated with food security (OR 0.93 (0.89-0.97) and OR 0.74 (0.59-0.92), respectively). After adjusting for confounders, households where at least one member suffered from an acute illness remained significantly more likely to be severely food insecure (OR 1.31(1.02-1.66)), as were households whose proxy respondent reported poor mental health (OR 2.64 (2.07-3.38)) and poor self-reported health (OR 1.62 (1.22-2.13). Severely food insecure households were more likely to eat cheaper foods when compared to non-severely food insecure households (p<0.001) and were more likely to rely on gifts (p<0.001) or welfare (p<0.001). They were also more likely to have exhausted all coping strategies, indicating significantly more frequently that they could not do anything (p = 0.0102). Food insecurity is a significant problem among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and is likely to be exacerbated at this time when the Syrian crisis amplifies the problem.

Maternal perceptions of father involvement among refugee and disadvantaged families in Beirut, Lebanon

“…The questions take into account participants' culture and value systems when considering their standards of and concerns about the safety of their surroundings. The food security of participating families was assessed with eight items using the Arab Family Food Security scale (AFFS; [37]) plus one supplemental question from the evaluation of the Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Children project, a study in Beirut, Lebanon in which the participants were members of the Palestinian refugee community [23]. The food security questionnaire was developed specifically for Arab communities in the Middle East and measures degrees of family-level food security in the previous year.…”

“…Moreover, food insecurity has been linked to poor mental health (self-reported using the five-item Mental Health Inventory) in a representative sample of Palestinian refugee households in Lebanon [23]. Using the same dataset, Habib and colleagues [24] found that adults in crowded households (calculated by dividing the number of people in a home by the number of rooms, excluding the balcony, kitchen, and restrooms; above the median of 1.69 people per room was considered crowded) were more likely to report poor health outcomes-including mental health, chronic and acute illnesses, and disability-compared with those living in homes without crowding.…”

Forced international migration for refugee food: a scoping review

“…This category covered 8 studies 17,[20][21][22][23]25,27,28 which presented aspects related to social, cultural, political and economic difficulties of access to food in refugee detention centers, refugee camps and in settlement destination countries.…”

“…In addition, the findings suggest that families of refugees with members with incapacitating physical disabilities are at greater risk of food shortages, and consequently food insecurity. Although the studies point to the existence of humanitarian assistance, it also points out that this is insufficient to address barriers to food access 20,23 . Studies A14 and A17 present food and nutrition aspects of Saharan refugees living in refugee camps in Algeria.…”

Food insufficiency and food insecurity as risk factors for physical disability among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: Evidence from an observational study

“…23 Food insecure Palestinian refugees were found to have reduced diet quality, and to resort to eating less and cheaper food and borrowing or receiving money or food. 18 The right to food, and the rights of people with disabilities are both key human rights issues, and establishing causal links between the two could contribute to establishing an evidence base that can inform future programs and policies to reduce avoidable nutrition-related disability, 2 particularly in vulnerable populations such as refugees.…”