Validation of the Radimer/Cornell food insecurity measure in rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to assess the construct validity, criterion-related validity and internal consistency of the Radimer/Cornell food insecurity measure for use in rural Tanzania.


METHODS
A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted from March to May 2005. Key adaptations to the nine-item Radimer/Cornell items included translation to Swahili, replacing the term 'balanced diet' with 'full meal' and constructing the items as questions rather than statements. Factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess validity and reliability, respectively.


METHODS
Rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.


METHODS
Analysis was restricted to data from 530 women aged 15-44 years who had children under 5 years old.


RESULTS
Principal component factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution: (1) altered eating pattern at household level and (2) altered eating pattern at child level. The two factors accounted for 66.2% of the total variance. The subscales developed had good reliability. Internal consistency of the scales was 0.853 and 0.784 for food insecurity at household level and food insecurity at child level, respectively. Only 14.0% of the women reported to be food-secure and 86.0% reported some kind of food insecurity. The Radimer/Cornell food insecurity measure showed significant associations with selected sociodemographic factors in the expected directions. There was also an association with the NHANES III (Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) and CCHIP (Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project) indicators.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the adapted Radimer/Cornell measure may have some utility in assessing food insecurity in settings like rural Tanzania.
Leyna
Germana H
GH
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. g.h.leyna@medisin.uio.no
Mmbaga
Elia J
EJ
Mnyika
Kagoma S
KS
Klepp
Knut-Inge
KI
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger / Q000502:physiology*; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012423:Rural Health; D012424:Rural Population; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology