Perception and experiences of food insecurity in families with income poverty

Abstract

Food insecurity is a current and multifactorial problem. The objective of this research is to explore the perception and experiences of adults, children and adolescents from families in income poverty regarding food insecurity in their homes. Regarding the methodology, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out with a sample of 81 participants to whom a survey was applied to measure food security; subsequently, a focus group was carried out to collect speeches. The analysis was carried out with SPSS 21 and Atlas ti 9 software. The results show a perception of moderate food insecurity in 51.4% of adults and severe in 71.7% of children. Adults' experiences reflected worry, lack of money, little variety of foods, and eating less. In minors, settling for food, worry and not having to eat. It is concluded that households in poverty are those who face greater difficulty in regularly accessing food, and that children perceive food insecurity more seriously than adults. Therefore, it is a social problem that demands priority and multisectoral attention.