RESUMEN
Food insecurity is a global concern. While it was once characterized mainly as a problem of undernutrition, it is now recognized that a person may be food insecure without experiencing hunger. Numerous studies have demonstrated that food insecurity is strongly related to poor mental health around the world, but the mechanisms that underpin that relationship remain poorly understood. One body of research from nutritional sciences posits that nutrient deficiency impacts brain function, producing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Another body of research from the social sciences posits that the social consequences of having to eat non-preferred foods or obtain food in socially unacceptable ways may compromise mental health through stress. This study was designed to clarify the mechanisms linking food insecurity and mental health using case studies in rural Brazil and urban Ethiopia. Working with samples consisting of about 200 adult household decision-makers (mostly female) recruited between 2015 and 2019 at each site, we tested for nutritional and social mediation of the food insecurity-mental health relationship using multivariable linear regression and mediation analysis. Our analyses found no evidence of mediation in either setting. Moreover, there was no association between nutritional status variables and food insecurity. These findings suggest that food insecurity likely impacts mental health directly through forms of basic needs deprivation, such as worrying about where one's next meal will come from, rather than by acting as a social signal or even by impacting nutritional status. These results underscore the power of basic-needs deprivation for impacting mental health.
Asunto(s)
Inseguridad Alimentaria , Salud Mental , Adulto , Brasil , Estudios Transversales , Etiopía , Femenino , Abastecimiento de Alimentos , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMEN
To what extent do people agree on the meaning of foods, and does this vary by socioeconomic status, demographics, or household type? Addressing this question is critical for testing hypotheses about the relationship between food insecurity, food meaning, and mental well-being because it speaks directly to the social implications of food behaviors. In this study, we test for a shared cultural model of food meaning in two diverse settings: urban Ethiopia and rural Brazil. Using freelist and pile sort data from 63 respondents in Ethiopia and 62 from Brazil, we show strong consensus on the prestige value of various key food items in each context. Further, consensus varies little across household composition, food security status, and age and gender. This suggests that, in these two settings, consumption of widely available foods is an act that has both biological and social consequences.
Asunto(s)
Actitud , Cultura , Dieta , Conducta Alimentaria , Población Rural , Clase Social , Población Urbana , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Brasil , Consenso , Demografía , Etiopía , Composición Familiar , Femenino , Abastecimiento de Alimentos , Humanos , Masculino , Salud Mental , Persona de Mediana Edad , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Stigma is a powerful determinant of physical and mental health around the world, a perennial public health concern that is particularly resistant to change. This article builds from sociologist Erving Goffman's classic conception of stigma as a unitary social phenomenon to explore the stigma attached to two seemingly dissimilar conditions: food insecurity in rural Brazil, and obesity in the urban United Arab Emirates. Our analyses underscore that both conditions are stigmatized because they represent a departure from a deeply-held social norm, and in both cases, self-stigma plays an important role. Furthermore, in both cases, the stigma associated with food insecurity and obesity is likely at least as harmful to personal wellbeing as are the biological consequences of these conditions. Finally, evidence increasingly links obesity and food insecurity causally. Our analyses suggest that these forms of stigma transcend individuals and are largely structural in their origins, and therefore that they are most likely to be improved through structural change.