Regional differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food sufficiency in California, April–July 2020: implications for food programmes and policies

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate regional differences in factors associated with food insufficiency during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic among three major metropolitan regions in California, a state with historically low participation rates in the Supplementation Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest food assistance program. Design: Analysis of cross-sectional data from Phase 1 (April 23 – July 21, 2020) of the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey, a weekly national online survey. Setting: California, and three Californian Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), including San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSAs. Participants: Adults aged 18 years and older living in households. Results: Among the three metropolitan areas, food insufficiency rates were lowest in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley MSA. Measures of disadvantage (e.g. having low-income, being unemployed, recent loss of employment, and pre-pandemic food insufficiency) were widely associated with household food insufficiency. However, disadvantaged households in the San Francisco Bay Area, the area with the lowest poverty and unemployment rates, were more likely to be food insufficient compared to those in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSAs. Conclusions: Food insufficiency risk among disadvantaged households differed by region. To be effective, governmental response to food insufficiency must address the varied local circumstances that contribute to these disparities.

Ecological risk and protective factors for food insufficiency in Los Angeles County during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Cross-sectional research has identified factors associated with a higher risk for food insecurity and food insufficiency among U.S. adults during the pandemic, including being on low income, belonging to race and ethnic minorities, and having children in the household (23) , as well as differences in risk across geographic areas (e.g. urban v. rural, and metropolitan regions within a state) (24,25) . One drawback of cross-sectional studies is that the temporal direction of findings remains unclear.…”

“…urban v . rural, and metropolitan regions within a state) ( 24 , 25 ) . One drawback of cross-sectional studies is that the temporal direction of findings remains unclear.…”

Food Insufficiency among Job-Loss Households during the Pandemic: The Role of Food Assistance Programs

“…According to Rubin's classification on missing data, the data are missing at random (MAR) in our study because the probability to be included relates to some known property [33], namely respondents' socio-demographics. Following some recent studies which used HPS data [1,6,7], we applied the listwise deletion method and included the respondents with complete data in analysis. To address any potential nonresponse bias, the HPS recommended sampling weight was applied to all analyses in this study to reflect the representative proportion in the U.S. population [1,6,35].…”

“…Following some recent studies which used HPS data [1,6,7], we applied the listwise deletion method and included the respondents with complete data in analysis. To address any potential nonresponse bias, the HPS recommended sampling weight was applied to all analyses in this study to reflect the representative proportion in the U.S. population [1,6,35]. In addition, a power analysis was performed for the logistic regression analysis with the equation given by Hsieh, Bloch, and Larsen [36].…”

“…Food insecurity refers to limited or uncertain access to the adequate, safe, and nutritious food required to maintain an active and healthy life [5]. Food insufficiency describes the way in which households sometimes or often do not have enough food to eat [6][7][8]. As a result, food insufficiency is often considered a more severe form of food insecurity due to its focus on undernutrition (not having enough to eat) while food insecurity includes both malnutrition (not being able to eat a balanced meal) and undernutrition.…”