Food: a disputed human right - a thematic focus for comprehension and action in food and nutritional security

Abstract

Situations involving food and nutritional insecurity are impediments to the realization of the human right to adequate food and may be linked to the availability, access, consumption, production and biological use of food and social, political and economic issues, which illustrate the current food problems existing between countries. The aim is to review how food is perceived as a human right in the scientific production on health in articles dedicated to the empirical analysis of food and nutritional security among children and adolescents in different urban settings. An integrated review of the literature was conducted with 80 scientific articles published in the PubMed database from 2007 to 2016. Information about the methodological approaches, the aspects related to food and nutritional insecurity, as well as conclusions and recommendations were extracted from the studies. The review revealed the diversity of the thematic focus for understanding food as a human right and its relation to other rights. Suggested action strategies focused on primary health care. Food in both developed and developing countries is a disputed human right that needs to be addressed in order to achieve social justice for all mankind.

Key words
Food and nutrition security; Human rights; Public health; Public policies