RESUMO
Introduction: The complex humanitarian emergency that Venezuela has been going through for several years has deteriorated the quality of life of its citizens, deepened food insecurity in households and has promoted migratory movements of almost six million people to neighboring countries. Objective: To analyze food security in Venezuelan households to identify the determinant factors that might contribute to the design of evidence-based public policies. Materials and methods: A non-probabilistic survey of national scope was used in 2,041 urban and non-urban households. A descriptive statistical test was performed to analyze demographic variables and the three component indicators of the food security index (FSI): food consumption, economic vulnerability and coping strategies. The FSI was built according to the World Food Program (WFP) methodology, and a segmentation analysis was applied using the Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) algorithm to specify the influence of some variables as the best predictor at each level. Results: Only 9% of the households presented food security, 69% classified as marginally secure, and 22% presented moderate or severe food insecurity. The food consumption score (FCS) was the variable that best discriminated the level of food security, followed by coping strategies and the percentage of spending on food. Conclusion: Most of the households studied sacrifice their livelihoods to feed themselves and cover the minimum of their nutritional requirements. This needs attention to stop and reverse the deterioration within a framework of respect for the human rights to health and food.
RESUMO
Venezuela atraviesa una emergencia humanitaria compleja de acuerdo a la Organización de Naciones Unidas, la cual es el resultado de una combinación de inestabilidad política, conflictos y violencia, desigualdades sociales y una pobreza subyacente. El impacto de esta situación en las condiciones de vida de la población, en especial, de la infancia, ha sido registrado por organizaciones internacionales y nacionales no gubernamentales ante el silencio cómplice del Estado. Se revisan los indicadores que permiten evaluar el grado de bienestar de la población infantil venezolana en cuanto a nivel de pobreza, nutrición y seguridad alimentaria, salud, educación y otros determinantes sociales. Conclusión: Como consecuencia de la emergencia humanitaria compleja, la infancia venezolana está amenazada por el incremento de la pobreza, a partir de la cual, se ha generado un aumento de todas las formas de desnutrición e inseguridad alimentaria, un incremento de la mortalidad materna, neonatal e infantil, la aparición de enfermedades prevenibles por vacunas y aquellas transmitidas por artrópodos, un grave deterioro del sistema educativo y la obligación de muchas familias a migrar para sobrevivir. El pediatra cumple un papel fundamental en la atención de niños, niñas y adolescentes al identificar factores de riesgo, denunciar la violación de sus derechos y aglutinar esfuerzos para garantizar su bienesta(AU)
Venezuela through a complex humanitarian emergency, according to the Organization of United Nations, which is the result of a combination of political instability, conflicts and violence, social inequality and underlying poverty. The impact of this situation on the living conditions of the population, especially children, has been registered by national non-governmental and international organizations to silence an accomplice of the State. Reviews of the indicators that allow evaluating the degree of welfare of the Venezuelan child population in terms of level of poverty, nutrition and food security, health, education and other social determinants. Conclusion: As result of the complex humanitarian emergency, Venezuelan children is threatened by the increase in poverty, from which it has generated an increase in all forms of malnutrition and food insecurity, an increase of the maternal, neonatal and child mortality, the emergence of diseases preventable by vaccines and those transmitted by arthropods, a serious deterioration of the educational system and the obligation of many families to migrate to survive. The pediatrician has an important role in the care of children and adolescents to identify risk factors denounce the violation of their rights and unite efforts to ensure their well-being(AU)