PLACE:319 Snedecor Hall

SPEAKER:
 Valerie Tarasuk
University of Toronto

TITLE:
An examination of the interface between statistical and
social/behavioural concepts in nutrition: the case of food insecurity

ABSTRACT:

Through the 1990s, extensive work has been undertaken to clarify the meaning of
food insecurity in a U.S. or Canadian context and to develop survey instruments to measure individual and household-level food security.  It is commonly defined as "the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways" (Anderson, 1990).  Increasingly, food security is included in nutrition monitoring and assessment activities at the population-level.  However, the usefulness of its inclusion may be constrained by a lack of conceptual clarity regarding the interpretation of food security status measures in relation to dietary intake measures and contextual or behavioural factors. Drawing upon classic principles of nutritional assessment, I propose to explore two broad areas of concern in the population-level assessment and interpretation of food security.  1) Specific food intake behaviours related to food insecurity will be described and their representation in conventional descriptors of individuals' dietary intakes will be explored.  Examinations of day to day variation in intake may yield valuable insight into the impact of specific events on household or individual-level food insecurity, but the estimation and analysis of this variation is problematic.  2) Conceptual and methodologic issues underpinning the analysis of food insecurity in relation to contextual factors will be elucidated through an examination of relationships between various indices of household food security status and poverty.

COFFEE: 3:45 p.m., 104 Snedecor Hall