Living conditions of Brazilian families: an estimation of food insecurity

Abstract Aim: To research the association between the living conditions of Brazilian families and the Food Insecurity (FI) estimations. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with data from the Household Budget Survey (2008-2009) in rural and urban areas. The estimation of FI rating was obtained by the question: “Which of the following statements best describes the amount of food consumed by your family?”,classified as FI for answers “usually not enough” or “sometimes not enough”. Living conditions were analyzed by economic variables, the household and its surroundings. Poisson regression models with robust variance, adjusted, were used. Results: 39.4% out of 55.406 households evaluated, were classified as FI. In most (93.9%) difficulty to make ends meet was identified. Prevalence ratio values, adjusted for monthly income per capita, region and area, showed that all economic and unsatisfactory living conditions, as well as home and surrounding problems were significantly associated with FI. Conclusions: The prevalence of FI estimates was high, associated with families’ unsatisfactory living conditions. Therefore, there is a need to implement effective intersectorial public policies aimed at reducing inequality.