title: Influence of sociodemographic characteristics on different dimensions of household food insecurity in Montevideo, Uruguay.
abstract: To determine the factor structure of the Latin American & Caribbean Household Food Security Scale (ELCSA) and to study the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on each of the identified dimensions in Montevideo, Uruguay.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of urban households. Household food insecurity was measured using the ELCSA. The percentage of respondents who gave affirmative responses for each of the items of the ELCSA was determined. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out to determine the ELCSA's factor structure. A probit model was used to determine the impact of some individual and household sociodemographic characteristics on the identified dimensions of food insecurity.
  
  
  
  Metropolitan area centred on Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, April-September 2014.
  
  
  
  Adults aged between 18 and 93 years (n 742).
  
  
  
  The percentage of affirmative responses to the items of the ELCSA ranged from 4·4 to 31·7 %. Two factors were identified in the exploratory factor analysis performed on data from households without children under 18 years old, whereas three factors were identified for households with children. The identified factors were associated with different severity levels of food insecurity. Likelihood of experiencing different levels of food insecurity was affected by individual characteristics of the respondent as well as characteristics of the household.
  
  
  
  The influence of sociodemographic variables varied among the ELCSA dimensions. Household income had the largest influence on all dimensions, which indicates a strong relationship between income and food insecurity.
authors.affiliation: 1Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales,Universidad de la República,Constituyente 1502,CP 11200,Montevideo,Uruguay.
authors.forename: Máximo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4116-922X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: 1Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales,Universidad de la República,Constituyente 1502,CP 11200,Montevideo,Uruguay.
authors.forename: Zuleika
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ferre
authors.affiliation: 2Observatorio de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional,Instituto Nacional de Alimentación,Montevideo,Uruguay.
authors.forename: María Rosa
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Curutchet
authors.affiliation: 3Sensometrics & Consumer Science,Instituto Polo Tecnológico de Pando, Facultad de Química,Universidad de la República,Pando,Canelones,Uruguay.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.affiliation: 3Sensometrics & Consumer Science,Instituto Polo Tecnológico de Pando, Facultad de Química,Universidad de la República,Pando,Canelones,Uruguay.
authors.forename: Gastón
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ares
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014583:Uruguay; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Factor analysis; Food security; Income; Latin America