8/20/14

Rachel Engler-Stringer, Ph.D

Assistant Professor
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology
College of Medicine

August 19, 2014

! Introduction

to food (in)security in Canada

(definitions, issues, associated health problems,
research)
! Monitoring: Household Food Security Survey
Module inclusion in CCHS
! Community food security
! Responses to food insecurity

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Food security exists when all people, at all times, have

access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life. (FAO, 1996)

Food insecurity: limited or uncertain availability of

nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or
uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in
socially acceptable ways (Anderson, 1990).

Quantitative, qualitative, social and psychological

domains (Frongillo, Rauschenbach, Olson, Kendall, & Colmenares, 1997;
Frongillo, 1999; Radimer, Olson, & Campbell, 1990)

Begins with worrying about not having enough money to buy

food, to compromising on quality, and then to compromising
on quantity (Chen & Che, 2001) .

Food shortage, unsuitability of food, monotony, lack of

freshness, a preoccupation with having access to enough food,
a feeling of lack of control over the situation, and a need to
hide that lack of control (Hamelin, Beaudry, & Habicht, 2002;
Hoisington, Armstrong Shultz, & Butkus, 2002; Tarasuk, 2001).

! Only

done consistently since 2005 and

not in every year in every province

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Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

! 12.6%

experienced food insecurity in

2012
! 580,000 more households experienced FI
in Canada in 2012 than in 2008 (130,000
more than in 2011)
! Highest prevalence in North and in the
Maritimes

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Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

Source:
Tarasuk,
Mitchell,
Dachner,
2013

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! 15.6%

of households with children

experienced FI versus 11.7% in
households without children
! 16% of all children experienced FI (1.15
million)

Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

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! Over-represented
2013; Health Canada, 2011)

groups (Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner,

Single-parent families (34.3%)

Families with children (15.6%)
Aboriginal households (28.2%)
Black households (27.8%)
Social assistance (70%)
EI/WC (38.4%)
Renting vs owning home (26.1%)
Recent immigrant (19.6%)

Source: Tarasuk, Mitchell, Dachner, 2013

! Saskatoon: 12.71%
! Regina:13.6%

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! 882,188

individuals in Canada receive

food from a food bank in an average
month.
! 93,000 people (11%) received help from a
food bank for the first time.
! 49% of households assisted are families
with children (almost half 2-parent
families)

Associated with
poorer reported
health (Kirkpatrick et al.,

Overweight and
obesity (Adams, GrummerStrawn, & Chavez, 2003;
Townsend, Peerson, Love,
Achterberg, & Murphy, 2001)

2010; Stuff et al., 2004;Vozoris &

Tarasuk, 2003)

Negative academic
and psychosocial
outcomes in
children (Alaimo, Olson, &
Frongillo, 2001)

Poor nutritional
intakes in a variety
of populations (Kaiser
et al., 2002; McIntyre, 2003;
Nelson, 2000; Tarasuk & Beaton,
1999)

Associated with
poorer mental
health in children
and adults(McIntyre et al.,
2012,; Alaimo, Olson, & Frongillo,
2002)

Linked to
biochemical or
clinical measures of
nutritional status
(Tarasuk, 2001)

! Decreased

vegetable and fruit

dairy
! Decreased fibre
! Increased energy density
! Decreased

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! acquiring

a household member
! change in number of parents in the home
! loss of job
! change in employment hours
! health of a household member declines

! Mother

acquires a full-time job

! Does

not address who controls the food

system.

! Does

not take into account whether or

not that system is environmentally and
economically sustainable (does nothing to
address the production end of the food
system).

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! Community

food security exists when all

community residents obtain a safe, personally
acceptable, nutritious diet through a
sustainable food system that maximizes
healthy choices, community self-reliance and
equal access for everyone (Hamm & Bellows, 2003).

! Attempt

to reintegrate production and

consumption issues (Allen, 1999).

! What

kinds of responses do you know of?

effective do you think they are?
(strengths/weaknesses)
! How might they be more effective?
! What kinds of responses might you like
to see? (public/private/community-based)
! How