Household food insecurity risk indices for English neighbourhoods: Measures to support local policy decisions.
Journal
PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
Titre abrégé: PLoS One
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101285081
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2022
2022
Historique:
received:
04
04
2022
accepted:
25
11
2022
entrez:
9
12
2022
pubmed:
10
12
2022
medline:
15
12
2022
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
In England, the responsibility to address food insecurity lies with local government, yet the prevalence of this social inequality is unknown in small subnational areas. In 2018 an index of small-area household food insecurity risk was developed and utilised by public and third sector organisations to target interventions; this measure needed updating to better support decisions in different settings, such as urban and rural areas where pressures on food security differ. We held interviews with stakeholders (n = 14) and completed a scoping review to identify appropriate variables to create an updated risk measure. We then sourced a range of open access secondary data to develop an indices of food insecurity risk in English neighbourhoods. Following a process of data transformation and normalisation, we tested combinations of variables and identified the most appropriate data to reflect household food insecurity risk in urban and rural areas. Eight variables, reflecting both household circumstances and local service availability, were separated into two domains with equal weighting for a new index, the Complex Index, and a subset of these to make up the Simple Index. Within the Complex Index, the Compositional Domain includes population characteristics while the Structural Domain reflects small area access to resources such as grocery stores. The Compositional Domain correlated well with free school meal eligibility (rs = 0.705) and prevalence of childhood obesity (rs = 0.641). This domain was the preferred measure for use in most areas when shared with stakeholders, and when assessed alongside other configurations of the variables. Areas of highest risk were most often located in the North of England. We recommend the use of the Compositional Domain for all areas, with inclusion of the Structural Domain in rural areas where locational disadvantage makes it more difficult to access resources. These measures can aid local policy makers and planners when allocating resources and interventions to support households who may experience food insecurity.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
In England, the responsibility to address food insecurity lies with local government, yet the prevalence of this social inequality is unknown in small subnational areas. In 2018 an index of small-area household food insecurity risk was developed and utilised by public and third sector organisations to target interventions; this measure needed updating to better support decisions in different settings, such as urban and rural areas where pressures on food security differ.
METHODS
We held interviews with stakeholders (n = 14) and completed a scoping review to identify appropriate variables to create an updated risk measure. We then sourced a range of open access secondary data to develop an indices of food insecurity risk in English neighbourhoods. Following a process of data transformation and normalisation, we tested combinations of variables and identified the most appropriate data to reflect household food insecurity risk in urban and rural areas.
RESULTS
Eight variables, reflecting both household circumstances and local service availability, were separated into two domains with equal weighting for a new index, the Complex Index, and a subset of these to make up the Simple Index. Within the Complex Index, the Compositional Domain includes population characteristics while the Structural Domain reflects small area access to resources such as grocery stores. The Compositional Domain correlated well with free school meal eligibility (rs = 0.705) and prevalence of childhood obesity (rs = 0.641). This domain was the preferred measure for use in most areas when shared with stakeholders, and when assessed alongside other configurations of the variables. Areas of highest risk were most often located in the North of England.
CONCLUSION
We recommend the use of the Compositional Domain for all areas, with inclusion of the Structural Domain in rural areas where locational disadvantage makes it more difficult to access resources. These measures can aid local policy makers and planners when allocating resources and interventions to support households who may experience food insecurity.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36490256
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267260
pii: PONE-D-22-09936
pmc: PMC9733884
doi:
Types de publication
Review
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e0267260Subventions
Organisme : Department of Health
Pays : United Kingdom
Informations de copyright
Copyright: © 2022 Smith et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Références
Public Health. 2020 Oct;187:161-164
pubmed: 32980783
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020 Aug 14;20(1):464
pubmed: 32795335
BMJ. 2009 Mar 17;338:b880
pubmed: 19297312
Soc Sci Med. 2019 Apr;227:93-103
pubmed: 30528071
Public Health Nutr. 2020 Jul;23(10):1778-1790
pubmed: 32174292
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014 Dec;114(12):1943-53.e2
pubmed: 25091796
BMJ. 2002 Aug 24;325(7361):436-8
pubmed: 12193363
Int J Health Geogr. 2013 Jul 02;12:33
pubmed: 23816238
J Nutr. 2013 Nov;143(11):1785-93
pubmed: 23986364
BMJ. 2020 Feb 24;368:m693
pubmed: 32094110
Sci Data. 2019 Jul 1;6(1):107
pubmed: 31263099
Child Obes. 2021 Mar;17(2):110-115
pubmed: 33481662
Health Place. 2012 Sep;18(5):1198-201
pubmed: 22796370
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2018 Feb;72(2):140-147
pubmed: 29263178
Med Teach. 2020 Aug;42(8):846-854
pubmed: 32356468
Health Place. 2018 Nov;54:11-19
pubmed: 30216748
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2014 Nov;68(11):1043-9
pubmed: 25053614
Soc Sci Med. 2015 May;132:38-44
pubmed: 25792338
J Community Health. 2012 Feb;37(1):253-64
pubmed: 21644024
Can J Public Health. 2009 Mar-Apr;100(2):135-9
pubmed: 19839291
Health Place. 2020 May;63:102340
pubmed: 32543429
BMJ Open. 2012 Feb 15;2(1):e000711
pubmed: 22337817
J Public Health (Oxf). 2022 Aug 25;44(3):634-641
pubmed: 33866365
Pediatrics. 2006 Sep;118(3):e859-68
pubmed: 16950971
Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol. 2017 Nov;23:1-9
pubmed: 29108687
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jul 06;15(7):
pubmed: 29986420
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2021 Aug;75(8):741-748
pubmed: 33579754
Appl Geogr. 2018 Feb;91:21-31
pubmed: 29915447
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2019 Jul;73(7):668-673
pubmed: 31036607
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017 Apr;71(4):324-328
pubmed: 28275045
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012 Dec;112(12):1949-58
pubmed: 23174682
Soc Sci Med. 2018 Aug;211:95-101
pubmed: 29933211
Acad Pediatr. 2022 Sep-Oct;22(7):1105-1114
pubmed: 35577282
Soc Sci Med. 2007 Jul;65(1):20-31
pubmed: 17467130
Soc Sci Med. 2017 Mar;177:27-34
pubmed: 28157566
Nutrition. 2023 Feb;106:111865
pubmed: 36473415
Health Aff (Millwood). 2015 Nov;34(11):1830-9
pubmed: 26526240
Child Obes. 2019 Jul;15(5):298-305
pubmed: 31090441
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Jan;268:113556
pubmed: 33293171
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020 Jan;74(1):20-25
pubmed: 31630122