Food insecurity in households with children and adolescents under the intersectionality between gender and race/skin color

Miguel, Isadora Dalla Valle Constantino; Valente Junior, Alcenir Tavares; Costa, Beatriz Picanço Bezerra de Menezes; Gongô, Isadora Rodrigues; Ferreira, Karina Andrade dos Reis; Costa, Rafaella Peres da; Ribeiro, Rhuanna Laurent Silva; Loureiro, Sophia Santos de Castro; Marchioni, Dirce Maria Lobo; Lobato, Jackeline Christiane Pinto; Baltar, Valéria Troncoso

doi:10.1590/0102-311XEN076325

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ARTICLE • Cad. Saúde Pública 41 (11) • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311XEN076325 linkcopy

Food insecurity in households with children and adolescents under the intersectionality between gender and race/skin color

Insegurança alimentar em domicílios com crianças e adolescentes na perspectiva da interseccionalidade entre gênero e raça/cor da pele

Inseguridad alimentaria en hogares con niños y adolescentes en el contexto de la interseccionalidad entre género y raza/color de piel

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstracts

Food insecurity refers to the lack of reliable access to quality food necessary for survival and well-being. It affects one’s physical, emotional, and cognitive health across different life stages. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity in Brazilian households with no children/adolescents, one child/adolescent, or two or more children/adolescents, considering intersections of race/skin color, gender, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. We used data from 57,920 households from the 2017-2018 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. Perceived food insecurity at the household level was assessed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA, acronym in Portuguese), classifying households as food secure or experiencing any level of insecurity. A generalized linear regression model for complex sampling data, with binomial distribution and logarithmic link function, was adopted to verify the association between multiple variables and food insecurity prevalence. Overall, 36.7% (95%CI: 35.9; 37.5) of households experienced food insecurity with prevalence increasing as the number of children or adolescents rose (39%, 95%CI: 37.7; 40.2 in households with one child/adolescent and 51.3%, 95%CI: 50.0; 52.6 in those with two or more). Households earning less than 0.5 minimum wage had a food insecurity prevalence 3.4 times higher (95%CI: 3.2; 3.7) than those earning over two minimum wage. Food insecurity was also more prevalent in households headed by black/mixed-race individuals and when the number of children/adolescents was higher - except among black/mixed-race women, who experienced high food insecurity levels regardless of household composition. This study reinforces the deeply social nature of this public health issue and the urgent need for public policies to reduce social inequalities and structural racism in Brazil.

Keywords:
Food Insecurity; Hunger; Race Factors; Family Structure

	Number of children/adolescents in the household
	None (n = 9,885,404)	1 (n = 6,818,088)	2+ (n = 8,571,953)
	% (95%CI)	% (95%CI)	% (95%CI)
Gender of household head
Man	26.1 (25.0; 27.2)	34.4 (32.9; 36.0)	46.5 (44.9; 48.0)
Woman	31.8 (30.5; 33.1)	45.4 (43.6; 47.1)	58.3 (56.4; 60.2)
Race/Skin color of household head
White	20.3 (19.3; 21.4)	29.8 (28.0; 31.6)	38.2 (36.1; 40.4)
Black/Mixed-race	37.0 (35.8; 38.2)	46.2 (44.7; 47.8)	58.5 (57.0; 59.9)
Asian/Indigenous/Undeclared	19.2 (14.6; 24.9)	29.2 (20.8; 39.1)	49.1 (37.8; 60.6)
Intersectionality
White man	18.0 (16.8; 19.3)	25.8 (23.6; 28.2)	33.8 (31.3; 36.4)
Black/Mixed-race man	34.4 (32.8; 36.0)	41.5 (39.5; 43.5)	54.3 (52.3; 56.2)
White woman	23.4 (21.8; 25.2)	35.8 (32.9; 38.9)	46.0 (42.6; 49.5)
Black/Mixed-race woman	40.6 (38.9; 42.4)	52.4 (50.3; 54.5)	63.9 (61.8; 65.9)
Other	19.2 (14.6; 24.9)	29.2 (20.8; 39.1)	49.1 (37.8; 60.6)
Macroregion
Southeast	25.1 (23.6; 26.6)	33.3 (31.0; 35.8)	44.2 (41.6; 46.9)
South	15.2 (13.7; 16.8)	22.4 (20.1; 24.8)	33.6 (30.8; 36.5)
North	44.8 (42.0; 47.6)	57.3 (53.9; 60.6)	68.4 (65.8; 71.0)
Northeast	41.1 (39.6; 42.5)	52.2 (50.4; 54.0)	63.4 (61.6; 65.2)
Central-West	29.7 (27.0; 32.6)	37.1 (34.1; 40.3)	44.4 (40.7; 48.1)
Area
Urban	27.7 (26.7; 28.6)	37.4 (36.0; 38.7)	49.1 (47.6; 50.6)
Rural	34.3 (32.4; 36.2)	49.8 (47.1; 52.5)	62.2 (59.8; 64.5)
Head of household had paid/unpaid work in the past 12 months
Yes	28.3 (27.4; 29.2)	38.6 (37.3; 39.9)	51.2 (49.8; 52.5)
No	38.8 (34.8; 43.0)	49.5 (44.4; 54.7)	55.0 (49.7; 60.3)
No information	74,488	100,688	171,825
Household head can read and write
Yes	26.4 (25.5; 27.4)	37.4 (36.1; 38.7)	49.6 (48.2; 50.9)
No	45.2 (42.9; 47.4)	61.4 (57.9; 64.8)	71.4 (68.0; 74.6)
Years of schooling of the household head
< 1	42.0 (39.5; 44.4)	57.8 (53.7; 61.8)	71.5 (67.3; 75.4)
1-7	33.8 (32.5; 35.2)	48.6 (46.5; 50.7)	60.0 (58.0; 62.0)
8+	22.8 (21.7; 23.9)	33.7 (32.2; 35.2)	45.0 (43.3; 46.6)
Household composition (adults)
1	32.3 (30.4; 34.3)	41.0 (26.1; 57.8)	14.6 (1.06; 73.3)
2+	27.7 (26.8; 28.6)	39.0 (37.7; 40.2)	51.3 (50.0; 52.6)
Number of people in the household
Up to 5	28.4 (27.6; 29.3)	38.8 (37.6; 40.1)	48.0 (46.6; 49.4)
6+	48.9 (36.4; 61.5)	45.9 (38.7; 53.3)	64.6 (61.9; 67.2)
Per capita household income (minimum wages)
< 0.5	61.0 (57.0; 64.8)	64.7 (61.9; 67.3)	73.5 (71.9; 75.0)
0.5-1	50.8 (48.5; 53.1)	50.9 (48.8; 52.9)	51.9 (49.7; 54.0)
1-2	34.0 (32.7; 35.4)	35.2 (33.2; 37.3)	34.7 (32.1; 37.3)
> 2	14.8 (13.8; 15.9)	15.7 (13.8; 17.8)	14.7 (12.3; 17.4)

			PR	95%CI	p-value
Years of schooling of the household head
< 1/8+			1.12	1.08; 1.16	< 0.01
1-7/8+			1.09	1.06; 1.12	< 0.01
Per capita household income (minimum wages)
< 0.5/> 2			3.41	3.18; 3.65	< 0.01
< 0.5-1/> 2			2.77	2.59; 2.96	< 0.01
1-2/> 2			2.05	1.92; 2.18	< 0.01
Macroregions
Southeast/South			1.36	1.27; 1.47	< 0.01
Central-West/South			1.45	1.37; 1.57	< 0.01
Northeast/South			1.55	1.45; 1.66	< 0.01
North/South			1.67	1.55; 1.79	< 0.01
Interaction gender/race/skin color and number of children/adolescents					< 0.01
Race/Skin color contrast
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Man	None	1.37	1.19; 1.56	< 0.01
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Man	1	1.17	1.01; 1.36	0.02
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Man	2+	1.18	1.05; 1.33	< 0.01
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Woman	None	1.19	1.04; 1.37	< 0.01
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Woman	1	1.08	0.94; 1.24	0.99
Black/Mixed race vs. white	Woman	2+	1.04	0.93; 1.17	0.99
Gender contrast
Woman vs. man	White	None	1.30	1.11; 1.54	< 0.01
Woman vs. man	Black/Mixed-race	None	1.14	1.04;1.25	< 0.01
Woman vs. man	White	1	1.28	1.06; 1.54	< 0.01
Woman vs. man	Black/Mixed-race	1	1.17	1.07;1.28	< 0.01
Woman vs. man	White	2+	1.24	1.07; 1.43	< 0.01
Woman vs. man	Black/Mixed-race	2+	1.09	1.02; 1.17	< 0.01
Number of children/adolescents contrast
1 vs. none	Man	White	1.16	0.97; 1.39	0.45
2+ vs. 1	Man	White	1.10	0.93; 1.29	< 0.01
2+ vs. none	Man	White	1.27	1.09; 1.48	< 0.01
1 vs. none	Woman	White	1.14	0.96; 1.35	0.99
2+ vs. 1	Woman	White	1.06	0.90; 1.25	0.99
2+ vs. none	Woman	White	1.21	1.03; 1.41	< 0.01
1 vs. none	Man	Black/Mixed-race	1.00	0.91; 1.10	0.99
2+ vs. 1	Man	Black/Mixed-race	1.10	1.02; 1.20	< 0.01
2+ vs. none	Man	Black/Mixed-race	1.10	1.00; 1.20	0.02
1 vs. none	Woman	Black/Mixed-race	1.02	0.93; 1.12	0.99
2+ vs. 1	Woman	Black/Mixed-race	1.03	0.95; 1.11	0.99
2+ vs. none	Woman	Black/Mixed-race	1.05	0.97; 1.15	0.99

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[TFN1] 95%CI: 95% confidence interval.