The Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Correlates of Food Insecurity in Poland

Abstract

While food insecurity (FI) has been extensively studied in many countries, there have been few empirical contributions in Poland to date. The main objective of our research was to identify the socio-demographic factors affecting the risk of FI in Poland within 2014–2019. Moreover, we aimed to examine the effects of the family-oriented social program “Family 500+” by comparing the situation in various types of households with children a few years before and after the program was launched. The analysis was based on the set of eight-item FI indicators adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization using the Gallup World Poll nationally representative survey data. Based on our results the most vulnerable groups in the context of FI were identified. We confirmed the importance of education, gender, age, marital status, household composition, status of employment and income in preventing FI. The effectiveness of the support program in reducing FI was demonstrated as households with at least three children experienced significant improvement in the FI status during the studied years. These findings should be especially important in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FI. As FI can affect the quality and quantity of food choices it is associated with a poorer health status, which increases the risk of infection, including COVID-19, and worsens recovery prognosis. Planning an efficient response to the pandemic requires a comprehension of the increased risk of exposure experienced by people, especially those who are food insecure.

Parents’ Perception of Food Insecurity and of Its Effects on Their Children in Italy Six Months after the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak

“…We found that parents’ higher age (over 50), higher parents’ school grade, and both parents being employed were protective against FI. Similar protective factors had already been identified in several studies before the pandemic [ 37 , 38 ]. Recently, an Australian online survey, performed between May and June 2020 on 1170 adults living in Tasmania, found that increasing age, a university education and higher income were protective against FI [ 39 ].…”

Negative effects of covid-19 pandemic on agriculture: systematic literature review in the frameworks of vulnerability, resilience and risks involved

“…As one can see from Table 1, farmers, rural communities and the most valued issue for them are the main points of reference in assessing risks of agricultural systems in the face of covid-19 pandemics. Ahmed et al, 2020;Barcaccia et al, 2020;Barichello, 2020;Martin, 2020;Mitaritonna & Ragot, 2020;Neef, 2020;Nicola et al, 2020;Phillipson et al, 2020 Social implications Overall food insecurity and hunger Deaton & Deaton, 2020;Dudek & Myszkowska-Ryciak, 2020;Kent et al, 2020;Laborde et al, 2020aLaborde et al, , 2020bLal, 2020a;Lal et al, 2020;Neff, 2020;Niles et al, 2020;Owens et al, 2020;Torero, 2020;Wolfson & Leung, 2020;Zavaleta-Cortijo et al, 2020 Source: Created by authors.…”

“…The covid-19 has the most severe impacts on these groups of people. The most studies (Dudek & Myszkowska-Ryciak, 2020;Leddy et al, 2020;Marcus et al, 2020;Neff, 2020;Owens et al, 2020) dealing with social issues of covid-19 in agriculture have highlighted the negative impact of food risks to pour people and homeless people as well as negative health consequences to most vulnerable people groups (Abrams & Szefler, 2020;Poudel & Subedi, 2020;Singh et al, 2020). Some authors (Ahmed et al, 2020;Laborde et al, 2020aLaborde et al, , 2020b noticed that poverty and food insecurity is expected to grow dramatically due to Covid-19 pandemic.…”

Food Insecurity and Affecting Factors in Households With Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The health status of individuals was negatively affected as animal foods were consumed less in the households, one-fifth of households did not consume milk, dairy products, and eggs daily, and nutrition was mostly based on bread consumption. Food insecurity can lead to a worse health status as it affects the nutritional value and quantity of selected foods (26) . For example, one study determined that approximately one-third of families purchased high-calorie snacks and desserts more often during the pandemic period (19) .…”