Many college students across the nation are going hungry and struggling with food insecurity, as their access to food is becoming more challenging to attain. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of college students and components that lead them to becoming food insecure. Studies indicate that food insecurity is a critical issue in a college students’ life, but there is not an established approach to adequately help the students address this issue. The data will be collected through self-administered surveys and participant ratings will be reviewed for any common themes and correlations. Results from this study will provide significant material to assist social workers in addressing food insecurity with a systematic approach and influence further research. This study will also present findings to universities to secure supplementary resources and services to prevent food insecurity on campus.

Since the late 1990s accelerated growth in health care spending coupled with a cost shift of health insurance from employers to employees has created an increased financial burden for many families. Past research suggests that financial burden due to out-of-pocket (OOP) health care costs limits access to health care and may reduce spending on other basic needs, such as food. The primary objective of this study was to assess the relationship between out-of-pocket health care expenditures and food insecurity among families with children. Secondarily, this study examined the relationship between the health status of children and household food security. This study used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID, 2003) to test whether higher out of pocket health care expenditures increase household food insecurity for families with children. Respondents reported out of pocket expenditures for both medical services and insurance premiums in 2001 and 2002. Food insecurity was measured for the previous 12 months using the 18-item USDA Food Security Survey Module. Multivariate weighted logit analysis was conducted to model the relationship between OOP health care costs and household food security status; and child health status and household food security. There was no evidence that higher OOP health care costs were associated with household food insecurity. However, among families earning less than 300 percent of the federal poverty threshold, having private insurance did increase the likelihood of experiencing food insecurity (OR =4.77, 95% CI = 0.05 - 1.02). Households with a child in poor health were not more likely to experience food insecurity; however having a wife in poor health was associated with food insecurity (OR = 4.00, 95% CI =1.67-9.52). The findings from this study suggest that programs designed to limit OOP health care spending among moderate and low income families should evaluate the impact on household food security. / Graduation date: 2013 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from July 23, 2012 - July 23, 2013

Background: Childhood excess weight and family food insecurity are food-system related public health problems that exist in Canada. Since both relate to issues of food accessibility and availability, which have elements of “place”, they may share common risk factors in the local environment that are amenable to intervention. In this area of research, the literature derives mostly from a US context, and there is a dearth of high quality evidence, specifically from longitudinal studies. Objectives: The main objectives of this thesis were to examine the adjusted associations between the place factors: material deprivation, social deprivation, social cohesion, disorder, and living location, with change in child BMI Z-score and with change in family food insecurity status in a Canadian cohort of children. Methods: The Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development was used to meet the main objectives of this thesis. Response data from six collection cycles (4 – 10 years of age) were used in three main analyses. The first analysis examined change in child BMI Z-score as a function of the place factors using mixed models regression. The second analysis examined change in child BMI Z-score as a function of place factors using group-based trajectory modeling. The third and final analysis examined change in family food insecurity status as a function of the place factors using generalized estimating equations. Results: Social deprivation, social cohesion and disorder were strongly and positively associated with family food insecurity, increasing the odds by 45-76%. These place factors, on the other hand, were not consistently associated with child weight status. Material deprivation was not important for either outcome, except for a slight positive association in the mixed models analysis of child weight status. Living location was not important in explaining family food insecurity. On the other hand, it was associated with child weight status in both analyses, but the nature of the relationship is still unclear. Conclusions: Results do not suggest that addressing similar place factors may alleviate both child excess weight and family food insecurity. More high quality longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to clarify relationships between the local environment and child weight status and family food insecurity.

The major goal of this study is to test the direction and strength of the relations of low-income single mothers’ depressive symptoms to their employment and income experiences over a time period following major welfare policy changes in the U.S. (2001 to 2003). The Panel Study of Income Dynamics provided data on 623 low-income, single mothers. The economic characteristics studied were: employment status, hours of work, wages, earnings, a job’s provision of personal control, family income, and welfare receipt. The mental health measure was the K-6 Non-Specific Psychological Distress Scale. The study adds to our understanding of the temporal relations between employment experiences and mental health by testing the social causation, social selection, and interactionist (bidirectional) perspectives. Specifically, this study tested the different perspectives with a wide range of economic indicators, tested mechanisms that may link mental and economic well-being, and combined multiple employment factors to see if patterns emerged that related uniquely to psychological distress. The findings supported social selection as earlier psychological distress predicted future employment, hours, wages, earnings, household income, and welfare receipt. The tested mediator of days of lost work affected by psychological distress indicated an indirect effect of poor mental health predicting diminished job productivity that, in turn, predicted reduced employment, hours, wages, and earnings. Results were similar for subgroups of mothers based on the age of their youngest child or prior welfare history. The single significant finding was that a longer span of welfare receipt predicted worse mental health as compared to mothers who reported a shorter period of welfare receipt. Latent class analysis identified three patterns of employment and welfare receipt across time: a) exchanged earnings for welfare, b) high employment and earnings growth with reduced welfare, and c) moderate employment growth. The groups that exchanged earnings for welfare (about 10% of the sample) evidenced increased psychological distress compared to mothers with high or moderate employment growth. Support for the social selection hypothesis suggests that policies and interventions that help low-income mothers improve their psychological well-being could also enhance their economic well-being. Implications for future research could explore the effects of such policies. / text

In this thesis I explore issues of food security and food-identity relationships among international students at the University of Guelph and the University of Windsor. I argue students who attempt to maintain traditional diets are more likely to experience food insecurity than students who explore diverse foods because they are more likely to be negatively affected by food availability, food access and structural barriers. What students eat can also have implications for identity maintenance and identity creation. Thus in this thesis I also explore the relationship between food and identity by considering how identity and food-security can be closely related to preferred food availability and accessibility. I argue that students consume certain foods as a means to maintain and create identities, and as such I suggest that familiar food eaters may experience a sense of losing their identities as their food insecurity increases.

Background: Childhood excess weight and family food insecurity are food-system related public health problems that exist in Canada. Since both relate to issues of food accessibility and availability, which have elements of “place”, they may share common risk factors in the local environment that are amenable to intervention. In this area of research, the literature derives mostly from a US context, and there is a dearth of high quality evidence, specifically from longitudinal studies. Objectives: The main objectives of this thesis were to examine the adjusted associations between the place factors: material deprivation, social deprivation, social cohesion, disorder, and living location, with change in child BMI Z-score and with change in family food insecurity status in a Canadian cohort of children. Methods: The Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development was used to meet the main objectives of this thesis. Response data from six collection cycles (4 – 10 years of age) were used in three main analyses. The first analysis examined change in child BMI Z-score as a function of the place factors using mixed models regression. The second analysis examined change in child BMI Z-score as a function of place factors using group-based trajectory modeling. The third and final analysis examined change in family food insecurity status as a function of the place factors using generalized estimating equations. Results: Social deprivation, social cohesion and disorder were strongly and positively associated with family food insecurity, increasing the odds by 45-76%. These place factors, on the other hand, were not consistently associated with child weight status. Material deprivation was not important for either outcome, except for a slight positive association in the mixed models analysis of child weight status. Living location was not important in explaining family food insecurity. On the other hand, it was associated with child weight status in both analyses, but the nature of the relationship is still unclear. Conclusions: Results do not suggest that addressing similar place factors may alleviate both child excess weight and family food insecurity. More high quality longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to clarify relationships between the local environment and child weight status and family food insecurity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:33:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BAPTISTELLA_Juliana_2012.pdf: 2240358 bytes, checksum: 19960e376f5e6a0e92817a90b0bf3b35 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-24 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This thesis aims to evaluate the impact of the Bolsa Familia Programme in food consumption of attended families. Given that the beneficiaries are poor and extremely poor families, we want to know what are the program s contribution for security of these families. We used data from the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares 2008/2009, conducted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, related to food consumption of the beneficiary (treatment group) and non-beneficiary (control group) families. Using propensity score matching method was possible to compare families very similar in their observable characteristics. We have found that the program contributes to increase food consumption of beneficiary families, once these families presented statistically and significantly higher expenses than non-beneficiary families. Also, he program collaborates to elevate the proportion of children and youth with normal corporal mass index, and increases the proportion of adults with obesity problems - these results can be indirectly associated. / O trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar o impacto do Programa Bolsa Família no consumo de alimentos das famílias beneficiadas. Dado que os beneficiários são famílias pobres e extremamente pobres, qual a contribuição do programa quanto à segurança alimentar dessas famílias, ou seja, qual a sua colaboração para que as famílias saiam da situação de insegurança alimentar? São utilizados dados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares 2008/2009, realizada pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, quanto ao consumo de alimentos das famílias beneficiadas (grupo de tratamento) e não beneficiadas (grupo de controle) pelo programa. A partir do método de propensity score matching, realiza-se o pareamento entre as famílias, de modo que se possam comparar unidades de observação muito semelhantes quanto às suas características observáveis. Verifica-se que o programa contribui para aumentar o consumo de alimentos das famílias beneficiadas, principalmente dos alimentos que fazem parte da cesta básica brasileira, uma vez que estas famílias apresentaram gastos mais elevados e significativos do que as famílias que não são beneficiadas. Quanto ao impacto no status nutricional, destaca-se que o programa colabora para elevar a percentagem de crianças e adolescentes com índice de massa corporal normal e de adultos com obesidade, resultados que indiretamente podem ser associados com a situação de segurança alimentar.

South Africa ranks high among the developing countries with income inequality and household food insecurity is a major concern in the country. The overall objective of the study was to investigate access and practices, which lead to increasing household access to nutritious food by households. The students registered for the one-year course identified households in the Dysselsdorp settlement in the Western Cape, South Africa which they worked closely with in food gardening. Descriptive research methods were used to assess food access and identify the socio-economic and demographic variables for this study. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather data, following the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences of the University of South Africa’s ethical protocol and guidelines. Data were collected in the middle and at the end of the coursework (mid-term and end-term). A semi-structured baseline questionnaire was used to interview households and to conduct focus group discussions with the students. The baseline questionnaire consisted of five sections, namely the socio-demographic information, food utilization, food availability, food accessibility and the living standards measurement scores. A stratified random sampling strategy was used to select 30 students to participate in the focus group discussions. The students identified three or four households, which they worked closely with and those households were purposively selected for the baseline interviews. vi Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences programme (IBM SPSS 24). Descriptive statistics (mean, frequencies and standard deviation) were used to compare the data. The 24-hour recall and 7 days food frequency recall was used to assess the household food consumption patterns. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, then themes and connections were used to explain the data and correlated with the objectives of the study. The socio-demographic data showed that most of the respondents were above 50 years old and they had an average number of 5.2 members. Thirty-one percent (31%) of the household heads had reached grade 8 to 12 in school, while 69% were those who had not gone to school and completed up to grade 7. Majority of the households relied on social grants as a source of income. The amount of money spent on food by the households in a month was between 0-R500 (63%) and 37% spent above R500 on food. Women participated more in food-related activities than men and the gardening activities were shared by the members of the households. The HDDS is a qualitative method for food consumption, which reflects household access to a variety of foods. The HDDS consists of food groups that the household has consumed over the past 24-hours and it is calculated based on the 12 food groups from the food consumed which are summed up; the mean score is used to determine diet diversity (Swindale & Bilinsky, 2006). The findings in this study is that the average HDDS increased from 5.6 to 6.4, which is above the recommended cut-off point for dietary quality (Steyn et al., 2006). Both the 24-hour recall and 7 days food frequency reported a high consumption of carbohydrates and meat, and less consumption of other food groups such as milk, vii eggs, fruits and vegetables were noted. The households relied on a variety of coping strategies such as asking for food from family or neighbours, depending on charity/grants, finding other sources of food and collecting wild food. All the households grew their own fruits, vegetables and crops. However, livestock production was practiced by 10% of the participating households. The households used preservation methods such as keeping food in a dry place (26), sun drying (38), canning (6), freezing (53) and refrigeration (11) to keep and store vegetables. The Living Standard Measurement (LSM) is a tool which focuses on household access to services and facilities (Faber et al., 2017). Household characteristics range from level 1 up to level 10, and a score from 1 to 4 are considered to be poor and lack access to services, while scores above 5 have improved access to resources and services. The LSM results of the households indicates that they have improved access to services as all the households scored above five. All the households, had access to land with water, electricity and toilet facilities in the yard. The major constraints experienced by the households were insufficient water, theft, pests, plant diseases and livestock which destroyed the crops. It is recommended that the government provide programmes aimed at developing communities, promoting healthy eating and food production. Workshops on nutrition education should be continuous and focus on basic sanitation, food hygiene. Income generation small-scale businesses, crop production, and livestock rearing will assist in alleviating hunger and unemployment. These initiatives could be extended to other areas of the country as a way to improve food security. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M.C.S.

A presente dissertação trata da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SAN) entre os povos indí-genas sob a perspectiva do Direito Humano a Alimentação Adequada (DHAA) e da Soberania Alimentar (SA). Apresenta à experiência dos indígenas Asheninkas do Alto Rio Envira, nar-rada a partir deles mesmos, com o Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) enquanto be-neficiários fornecedores, no Município de Feijó, Estado do Acre. O PAA invest igado é exe-cutado pelo governo do estado e a modalidade é a Compra com Doação Simultânea. Demons-tra-se, por meio do Estudo de Caso, que o PAA pode fortalecer a segurança alimentar e nutri-cional dessas sociedades diferenciadas com manutenção da sua autonomia cultural. Com isso, debate-se as questões sobre a prioridade legal conferida a estes segmentos e a valorização para a aquisição de produtos tradicionais, intrínsecos á cultura, alimentação e culinária indí-gena. A ressignificação e adequação do Programa localmente unida aos laços de reciprocidade e parentesco, típicos das comunidades indígenas, contribuem para o acesso e manutenção de famílias isoladas geograficamente no Programa. Argumenta-se ainda, que a participação indí-gena no PAA, uma vez seguido os princípios legislativos do Programa e o respeito à autode-terminação dos povos, fortalece o resgate e manutenção dos sistemas alimentares tradicionais dos povos indígenas em seus territórios e terras indígenas já conquistadas legalmente. Assim, o PAA constitui-se não apenas em uma politica geradora de renda, mas, reúne, principalmen-te, características opostas às politicas indigenistas praticadas no passado. / This dissertation discusses food security and nutrition between indigenous people under the consideration of The Human Right to Adequate Food and Food sovereignty perspectives. It presents the experience of the Asheninkas’ people from the high Envira River with the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) in Feijo municipality, from their narratives as suppliers-beneficiaries. The program studied is implemented by the state government in the modality of Buy with Simultaneous donation. It is demonstrated through this case study that the PAA can strengthen food security and nutrition of these diverse societies maintaining their cultural au-tonomy. By this means, questions about the legal priority given to these segments and the appreciation to the acquisition of traditional products, intrinsic to indigenous culture, food and cuisine, are raised and debated. The local reinterpretation and adaptation of the program com-bined with the reciprocity ties and parentage, typical of indigenous communities, contribute to the access and maintenance of geographically isolated families in the program. It is further argued that the indigenous participation on PAA, once its legislative principles and the respect for these people self-determination are observed, strengthens the recovery and maintenance of indigenous traditional food systems in indigenous territories and lands already occupied legal-ly. Therefore, the PAA is not just a income generation policy, but also, and specially, a policy with opposite characteristics from the old indigenous policies.

Esta tese tem como ampla proposta apresentar evidências a respeito da situação de segurança alimentar mundial, já que o mundo enfrenta problemas graves e urgentes relacionados à insegurança alimentar. Para tanto, são apresentados cinco estudos que abordam tal temática. O primeiro estudo se propõe a investigar as exportações de feijão brasileiro, observando as condições de segurança alimentar de seus compradores. O segundo estudo busca discutir os perfis agrícolas das principais regiões da África, bem como a parceria estabelecida entre a África e o Brasil com intuído de fomentar a inovação na agricultura e o desenvolvimento econômico. O terceiro estudo busca identificar e analisar os principais padrões de abastecimento alimentar da população mundial, e, em seguida, relacioná-los com as respectivas condições de desnutrição de suas localidades. A hipótese é que existem padrões de suprimento específicos, geograficamente identificáveis, que estão associados com o desalinhamento nutricional de certas populações em maior grau do que outras. O quarto estudo investiga a situação e a tendência de insegurança alimentar em todo o mundo considerando suas principais regiões geográficas. O quinto estudo objetivou analisar o impacto de fatores sócio-econômicos e comportamentais sobre a situação obesogênica em todo o mundo. Para tanto, os estudos se baseiam em dados disponibilizados por entidades e órgão oficiais como FAO, WHO, UNSD, IBGE e Banco Mundial. Além disso, para a análise dos dados foram empregadas técnicas de estatísticas descritivas, análise do coeficiente de correlação (Pearson e Spearman), regressão linear (múltipla e simples), análise de cluster e análise fatorial. Também foram elaborados diagramas de dispersão e gráficos de séries temporais. Os resultados sugerem que os modelos de suprimento alimentar estão significativamente relacionados aos problemas de insegurança alimentar mundial. Também ficou evidenciado que algumas nações e regiões mundiais enfrentam gravidades severas de segurança alimentar, com tendências alarmantes de agravamento. Especificamente a região do sul da África apresenta aumento tanto de sobrepeso quando baixo peso infantil. Já os países do leste asiático apresentam os melhores indicadores de segurança alimentar. Também o estudo sugere que o Brasil tem potencial de auxiliar na promoção da segurança alimentar, tanto por meio da produção e suprimento de alimentos, como por meio de parcerias inovativas com regiões mais desfavorecidas como a África subsaariana. As implicações deste estudo abrangem o âmbito das políticas públicas, práticas privadas e elementos econômico-sociais. As evidências aqui apresentadas poderão auxiliar no desenvolvimento de iniciativas em prol da promoção da segurança alimentar mundial. Além disso, o papel do agronegócio Brasileiro como potencial atenuador da insegurança alimentar mundial é destacado, necessitando de uma articulação política e privada para seu desenvolvimento sustentável. / The wide proposal of this thesis is to present evidence about the situation of food security worldwide, since the world is facing severe and urgent problems related to this issue. Considering this finality, this thesis is composed by five studies addressing the food security worldwide issue. The first study aims to investigate the export of Brazilian dry-beans, observing the conditions of food security of importers. The second study aims to discuss the agricultural profiles of the main regions of Africa, as well as the partnership between Africa and Brazil established to foster innovation in agriculture and economic development. The third study seeks to identify and analyze the main food supply patterns of the world's population, and then relate them to their conditions of malnutrition in their localities. The hypothesis is that there are specific supply patterns, geographically identifiable, which are associated with nutritional misalignment of certain populations to a greater degree than others. The fourth study investigates the status and trend of food insecurity around the world considering its major geographic regions. The fifth study aimed to analyze the impact of socio-economic and behavioral factors on obesogenic situation worldwide. All five studies are based on data available at official organizations and institutions as FAO, WHO, UNSD, World Bank and IBGE. In addition, data analysis techniques complies descriptive statistics, correlation analysis (Pearson and Spearman), linear regression (simple and multiple), cluster analysis and factor analysis. Scatterplots and time series graphs were also elaborated. The main results suggest that food supply patterns are significantly related to the problems of global food insecurity. It was also found that some nations and world regions face severe severities of food security, with alarming trends of worsening. Specifically, Southern Africa region has increased prevalence of overweight and underweight children. The countries of Eastern Asia have the best indicators of food security, considering anthropometric indicators. The study also suggests that Brazil has the potential to assist the promotion of food security worldwide through the production and supply of food, and through innovative partnerships with poorer regions like sub-Saharan Africa. The implications of this study include the realm of public policy, private practices and economic-social elements. The evidence presented here may assist in developing initiatives for the promotion of world food security. Furthermore, the role of the Brazilian agribusiness as potential attenuator of food insecurity worldwide is highlighted, requiring political and private articulation for the sustainable development.