title: Food insecurity and household food supplies in rural Ecuador.
abstract: The objective of this research is to assess the validity of a modified US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) through its correlation with food supply and demographic factors, and its fitness using Rasch model analysis in rural Ecuador. This study examines the relationship between household food insecurity and household food supplies in 52 Ecuadorian households. The sample was drawn from four rural communities participating in the project PLAN in Cantón Quijos. Questionnaires included a modified HFSSM, a household food shelf-inventory and demographic characteristics. Multiple ANOVA analysis resulted in statistically significant inverse relationships between household food insecurity and total food supply, as well as the supply of meat, vegetables, legumes, oils, and other food products (p=0.05). Rasch model measure values on the HFSSM illustrated food insecurity at different levels of severity. The majority of the items (>75%) presented adequate infit values. This study affirms that the proposed modified HFSSM may be useful to measure food insecurity and thus be used as a tool to monitor and evaluate programs aimed at improving quantity and variety of food items in rural Ecuador.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, Fundación Heifer Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.forename: Ana Claudia
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Zubieta
authors.forename: Kattya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Melgar-Quiñonez
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004484:Ecuador; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires