Demographic and socio-environmental factors associated with household food insecurity in different territories of the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil

This study aimed to present the prevalence of household food insecurity in different territories of the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, and to analyze demographic and socio-environmental factors associated with it. The data used are from a larger survey named Quality of the Urban Environment of Salvador - QUALISalvador, carried out from 2018 to 2020 in in the city. Food insecurity was assessed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. A total of 15,171 households were analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the association of demographic and socio-environmental variables with mild food insecurity (MFI) and moderate or severe food insecurity (MSFI) for Salvador and by macrozones. Salvador presented 40.96% of food insecurity. In the macrozones, the prevalence differed: Atlantic Coast (25.8%), Consolidated Urban Area (33%), Suburb (45.7%), and Core (47.9%). All factors analyzed were associated with MFI and/or MSFI in the model for Salvador, namely: household head having schooling ≤ 4 years (MFI: OR = 2.00; 95%CI: 1.61-2.47/MSFI: OR = 4.94; 95%CI: 3.83-6.35), having per capita family income of up to 1/2 minimum wage (MFI: OR = 2.62; 95%CI: 2.37-2.93/MSFI: OR = 4.03; 95%CI: 3.53-4.60), perception of the quality of the urban environment as poor (MFI: OR = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.36-1.81/MSFI: OR = 2.03; 95%CI: 1.73-2.38), with a higher prevalence of food insecurity in scenarios of worse sociodemographic situation. In the Core Macrozone, all factors were also associated with food insecurity. Thus, the factors of social vulnerability are associated with food insecurity in the capital and macrozones, but they are presented in a specific way according to the characteristics of each territory.

Keywords:
Food Insecurity; Urban Area; Social Inequalities