Increased difficulty accessing food and income change during the COVID-19 pandemic among youth living in the eThekwini district, South Africa.
Public Health Nutr
; 27(1): e145, 2024 May 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38778712
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To estimate the effect of income change on difficulty accessing food since the COVID-19 pandemic for South African youth and evaluate whether this effect was modified by receiving social grants.DESIGN:
A cross-sectional, online survey was conducted between December 2021 and May 2022. Primary outcome was increased difficulty accessing food since the COVID-19 pandemic. Income change was categorised as 'Decreased a lot', 'Decreased slightly' and 'Unchanged or increased'. Multivariable logistic regressions were used, with an interaction term between social grant receipt and income change.SETTING:
eThekwini district, South Africa.PARTICIPANTS:
Youth aged 16-24 years.RESULTS:
Among 1,620 participants, median age was 22 years (IQR 19-24); 861 (53 %) were women; 476 (29 %) reported increased difficulty accessing food; 297 (18 %) reported that income decreased a lot, of whom 149 (50 %) did not receive social grants. Experiencing a large income decrease was highly associated with increased difficulty accessing food during the COVID-19 pandemic (adjusted OR [aOR] 3·63, 95 % CI 2·70, 4·88). The aOR for the effect of a large income decrease on difficulty accessing food, compared to no income change, were 1·49 (95 % CI 0·98, 2·28) among participants receiving social grants, and 6·63 (95 % CI 4·39, 9·99) among participants not receiving social grants.CONCLUSIONS:
While social grant support made a great difference in lowering the effect of income decrease on difficulty accessing food, it was insufficient to fully protect youth from those difficulties. In post-pandemic recovery efforts, there is a critical need to support youth through economic empowerment programming and food schemes.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
SARS-CoV-2
/
Insegurança Alimentar
/
COVID-19
/
Renda
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Public Health Nutr
Assunto da revista:
CIENCIAS DA NUTRICAO
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
França