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Food Insecurity, Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Rural and Remote Areas

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences & Services".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 12971

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Adam Hege

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Public Health program, Department of Health and Exercise Science, Beaver College of Health Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28607, USA
Interests: occupational safety and health; health disparities; social determinants of health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to the most recent report from the United Nations (The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019), it is estimated that more than 800 million people globally are facing food insecurity and challenges related to hunger. Without change, it is projected that an additional two billion people could be food insecure or hungry by 2050. As a result, increased food security and the elimination of hunger are included in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. There is much evidence documenting the negative health effects of experiencing hunger and food insecurity across the lifespan, and thus, drastic improvements must occur.

In recent years, much research attention has been directed at the broad social determinants of health, including the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age (WHO, 2019). Food security status and food access serve as critical social determinants of health and can have profound impacts on one’s quality of life. Often, rural and remote areas of the world are the most impacted by food insecurity, which can also be linked with numerous other social determinants of health. It is imperative that public health leaders and policymakers develop sustainable strategies for addressing food insecurity within the broader social determinants of health identified by the research and practice fields focused on rural settings. By doing so, overall quality of life can be improved, and a more just and equitable world can be achieved.

For this Special Issue, we invite submissions on the subject areas of food insecurity, social determinants of health, and quality of life in rural and remote areas. The keywords listed below provide an outline of some of the possible areas of interest.

Dr. Adam Hege
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food insecurity
  • rural and remote areas
  • social determinants of health
  • quality of life
  • health equity
  • health disparities
  • epidemiology
  • prevention
  • policy
  • sustainability
  • advocacy
  • community action research
  • health in all policies

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1055 KiB  
Article
A Qualitative Examination of Water Access and Related Coping Behaviors to Understand Its Link to Food Insecurity among Rural Households in the West Region in Cameroon
by Carole D. Nounkeu and Jigna M. Dharod
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(13), 4848; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17134848 - 6 Jul 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2634
Abstract
Food insecurity is a significant public health issue, since it causes malnutrition and engenders millions of deaths every year. A significant association is found between water and food insecurity. However, it remains unclear what are the pathways through which water shortage impacts food [...] Read more.
Food insecurity is a significant public health issue, since it causes malnutrition and engenders millions of deaths every year. A significant association is found between water and food insecurity. However, it remains unclear what are the pathways through which water shortage impacts food insecurity. Hence, a qualitative study was conducted in rural areas in Cameroon to (1) examine water access, its management, and its daily use and (2) investigate common behavior changes and coping strategies adults used in managing limited water availability in their households. Three rounds of focus group discussions and six key informant interviews were conducted with men and women. The results demonstrated that water access was limited, involving long walking distances and making several trips to the water sources. The household size, number of adults vs. children, and presence of storage containers affected water availability and its daily use. To manage limited water, coping behaviors included skipping drinking, changing cooking plans, and recycling water. In conclusion, limited water access increases food insecurity through several pathways. Governments, policy makers, and international organizations should recognize the interwoven link between water and food security. Joint actions and collaborative efforts are needed to improve success and reduce tradeoffs in achieving Sustainable Development Goals # 2 and # 6. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity, Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Rural and Remote Areas)
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17 pages, 944 KiB  
Article
Does “Rural” Always Mean the Same? Macrosocial Determinants of Rural Populations’ Health in Poland
by Paulina Ucieklak-Jeż and Agnieszka Bem
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(2), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020397 - 7 Jan 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2606
Abstract
Rural areas, as well as urban ones, are not homogeneous in terms of social and economic conditions. Those surrounding large urban centers (suburban rural areas) act different roles than those located in remote areas. This study aims to measure the level of inequalities [...] Read more.
Rural areas, as well as urban ones, are not homogeneous in terms of social and economic conditions. Those surrounding large urban centers (suburban rural areas) act different roles than those located in remote areas. This study aims to measure the level of inequalities in social determinants of health (SDH) between two categories of rural areas. We pose the following research hypotheses: (hypothesis H1) rural areas in Poland are relatively homogenous in the context of SDH and (hypothesis H2) SDH affects life expectancies of rural residents. Based on data covering all rural territories, we found that rural areas in Poland are homogenous in SDH. We also find important determinants of health rooted in a demographic structure—the feminization index and a ratio of the working-age population. On the other hand, we cannot confirm the influence of commonly used SDH-GDP and unemployment rate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity, Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Rural and Remote Areas)
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13 pages, 1235 KiB  
Article
Household Food Insecurity, Dietary Diversity, Stunting, and Anaemia among Left-Behind Children in Poor Rural Areas of China
by Qiping Yang, Tong Yuan, Lina Yang, Jiaojiao Zou, Meimei Ji, Yefu Zhang, Jing Deng and Qian Lin
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(23), 4778; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234778 - 28 Nov 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4100
Abstract
Left-behind children (LBC) are a newly emerged social group in China. Poor nutritional status is particularly prominent in this population. However, their food insecurity tends to attract very little attention. This study aims to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition (stunting [...] Read more.
Left-behind children (LBC) are a newly emerged social group in China. Poor nutritional status is particularly prominent in this population. However, their food insecurity tends to attract very little attention. This study aims to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition (stunting and anaemia) in 3 to 5-year-old LBC in rural China. Face-to-face interviews were administered to 553 LBC caregivers in 40 rural villages of Hunan Province, China. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess household food insecurity (HFI). Dietary diversity score (DDS) and food group consumption frequency were measured by 24 h-recall and food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Hemoglobin tests and anthropometric measurements including height and weight were measured by trained health professionals. Logistic regression was constructed to assess the association between household food insecurity and dietary diversity, stunting, and anaemia. A high prevalence of household food insecurity was determined (67.6%). The weighted prevalence of stunting and anaemia were 16.6% and 26.5%, respectively. Food insecurity was positively associate with LBC stunting (severe HFI: OR = 6.50, 95% CI: 2.81, 15.00; moderate HFI: OR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.60, 7.54), and anaemia (severe HFI: OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.57). LBC with food insecurity had significantly lower dietary diversity than those who were food-secure (p < 0.001). The prevalence of household food insecurity among LBC in poor rural China is high and is associated with low DDS, stunting, and anaemia. Nutritional intervention programs and policies are urgently needed to reduce household food insecurity and undernutrition for this vulnerable population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity, Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Rural and Remote Areas)
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12 pages, 677 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Retail Food Environment in Madrid: An Evaluation of Administrative Data against Ground Truthing
by Julia Díez, Alba Cebrecos, Iñaki Galán, Hugo Pérez-Freixo, Manuel Franco and Usama Bilal
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(19), 3538; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16193538 - 21 Sep 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3139
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that European settings face unique food environment issues; however, retail food environments (RFE) outside Anglo-Saxon contexts remain understudied. We assessed the completeness and accuracy of an administrative dataset against ground truthing, using the example of Madrid (Spain). Further, we [...] Read more.
Previous studies have suggested that European settings face unique food environment issues; however, retail food environments (RFE) outside Anglo-Saxon contexts remain understudied. We assessed the completeness and accuracy of an administrative dataset against ground truthing, using the example of Madrid (Spain). Further, we tested whether its completeness differed by its area-level socioeconomic status (SES) and population density. First, we collected data on the RFE through the ground truthing of 42 census tracts. Second, we retrieved data on the RFE from an administrative dataset covering the entire city (n = 2412 census tracts), and matched outlets using location matching and location/name matching. Third, we validated the administrative dataset against the gold standard of ground truthing. Using location matching, the administrative dataset had a high sensitivity (0.95; [95% CI = 0.89, 0.98]) and positive predictive values (PPV) (0.79; [95% CI = 0.70, 0.85]), while these values were substantially lower using location/name matching (0.55 and 0.45, respectively). Accuracy was slightly higher using location/name matching (k = 0.71 vs 0.62). We found some evidence for systematic differences in PPV by area-level SES using location matching, and in both sensitivity and PPV by population density using location/name matching. Administrative datasets may offer a reliable and cost-effective source to measure retail food access; however, their accuracy needs to be evaluated before using them for research purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity, Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Rural and Remote Areas)
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