Measuring food insecurity Jill Morton Scottish Government

Food insecurity Dignity: Ending Hunger Together in Scotland - The Report of the Independent Working Group on Food Poverty: We have to understand the scale of the problem in order that we can address it more effectively. We have to focus on how we prevent food insecurity and hunger from occurring in the first place. We have to respond more effectively when people do fall into food insecurity and hunger. We have to invest in creating more sustainable, longer-term and more life-enriching solutions to food insecurity.

What is food insecurity? The biggest problem is having enough money to feed yourself. Every response must be dignified. Involving people experiencing food insecurity is where we will find the solution. Everyone has the right to good quality and nutritious food. Food is about community and not just consumption. Emergency food aid is not a long term solution to hunger.

Measurement The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), developed by the Voices of the Hungry (VoH) project, is an experience-based metric of severity of food insecurity that relies on people’s direct responses.

Now I would like to ask you some questions about food. GLOBAL FOOD INSECURITY EXPERIENCE SCALE Household Referenced Now I would like to ask you some questions about food. During the last 12 MONTHS, was there a time when: Q1. You or others in your household worried about not having enough food to eat because of a lack of money or other resources? Q2. Still thinking about the last 12 MONTHS, was there a time when you or others in your household were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food because of a lack of money or other resources? Q3. Was there a time when you or others in your household ate only a few kinds of foods because of a lack of money or other resources? Q4. Was there a time when you or others in your household had to skip a meal because there was not enough money or other resources to get food? Q5. Still thinking about the last 12 MONTHS, was there a time when you or others in your household ate less than you thought you should because of a lack of money or other resources? Q6. Was there a time when your household ran out of food because of a lack of money or other resources? Q7. Was there a time when you or others in your household were hungry but did not eat because there was not enough money or other resources for food? Q8. Was there a time when you or others in your household went without eating for a whole day because of a lack of money or other resources?

The set of eight questions compose a scale that covers a range of severity of food insecurity: 

Using the data Placing the food insecurity questions in the Scottish Health Survey allows analysis against a range of other factors – household composition, family type, number of children, income, etc. It also provides the potential to analyse against general health, mental health, dental health, diet, alcohol/smoking, physical activity, obesity, injuries and accidents etc. Potential for future data linkage with other data sources.