The Measurement of Food Insecurity in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Elena Carrillo-Álvarez, Blanca Salinas-Roca, Lluís Costa-Tutusaus, Raimon Milà-Villarroel and Nithya Shankar Krishnan
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Elena Carrillo-Álvarez: Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Ramon Llull University, Padilla, 326-332, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Blanca Salinas-Roca: Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Ramon Llull University, Padilla, 326-332, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Lluís Costa-Tutusaus: Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Ramon Llull University, Padilla, 326-332, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Raimon Milà-Villarroel: Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Ramon Llull University, Padilla, 326-332, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Nithya Shankar Krishnan: Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Ramon Llull University, Padilla, 326-332, 08025 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-57

Abstract: The measurement of food insecurity is essential to monitor the prevalence, risk factors, consequences and effects of food insecurity and the interventions and policies implemented to tackle it. Yet, how best to apply it remains an unsettled issue due to the multifaceted and context-dependent nature of food insecurity. We report a scoping review of measures of food insecurity at the individual and household level in high-income countries with the final purpose of facilitating a catalogue of instruments to be used by both researchers and practitioners. The scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. We included all types of documents published between 2000–2020 using instruments that estimate food insecurity at both individual and household level in high-income countries, and with respondents including adolescents, adults, and elderly. We identified a total of 23 measurement strategies being used in 33 peer-reviewed publications and 114 documents from the grey literature. Our results show that most measures focus on the access dimension of food insecurity and that further research is required to develop measures that incorporate aspects of quality of dietary intake and relevant individual, household and social conditions related to food insecurity.

Keywords: food insecurity; measurement; instruments; high-income countries; scoping review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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