Abstract

Background

Food insecurity has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes. This study assessed the association between household food insecurity and self-perceived mental health status and anxiety symptoms among Canadians in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data and methods

The Canadian Perspectives Survey Series 2 collected cross-sectional data from May 4 to 10, 2020, on Canadians aged 15 years or older residing in the ten provinces. The brief six-item Household Food Security Survey Module was used to measure participants’ households as food secure or marginally, moderately or severely food insecure within the previous 30 days. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between food security status and self-perceived fair or poor mental health and moderate or severe anxiety symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates.

Results

Approximately one in seven Canadians (14.6%) lived in a household that experienced some level of food insecurity. Of these individuals, 9.3% reported recently accessing free food from a community organization. About one in five Canadians self-perceived their mental health as fair or poor (22.0%), or self-reported moderate or severe anxiety symptoms (18.2%). With covariate adjustment, individuals in households with moderate food insecurity had nearly three times higher odds of reporting fair or poor mental health, and moderate or severe anxiety symptoms, compared with individuals in food-secure households. Among those with severe food insecurity, adjusted odds ratios were 4.0 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0 to 7.9) for fair or poor mental health, and 7.6 (95% CI: 3.9 to 14.7) for moderate or severe anxiety symptoms.

Interpretation

In the early period of the COVID-19 epidemic in Canada, household food insecurity was independently associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Monitoring both food insecurity and mental health will be important as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Keywords

food security, perceived mental health, GAD-7, COVID-19 financial impacts, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, self-report

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202001200001-eng

Findings

Food insecurity refers to the inability to access a sufficient quantity or variety of food because of financial constraints, and is an established marker of material deprivation in Canada. Based on the most recent available national-level data, 8.8% or 1.2 million households experienced food insecurity in 2017/2018. Certain population groups are more likely to be food insecure, such as lone-parent households, individuals who rely on government assistance as their main source of income and individuals who rent their home. [Full article]

Authors

Jane Y. Polsky (jane.polsky@canada.ca) and Heather Gilmour (heather.gilmour@canada.ca) are with the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

What is already known on this subject?

  • Income-related food insecurity has been associated with poorer diet quality and a variety of physical and mental health problems.
  • Few studies have examined food insecurity in the context of stressful events.
  • In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the already stressful experience of food insecurity may be further compounded by imposed social isolation and worries about new health risks and financial insecurity.

What does this study add?

  • This study is the first to examine the association between household food insecurity and self-perceived mental health and anxiety symptoms among Canadians in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Compared with those in food-secure households, Canadians living in households that experienced income-related food insecurity during the previous 30 days were significantly more likely to self-perceive their mental health as fair or poor and to report moderate or severe anxiety symptoms in the early pandemic period.
  • Overall, an estimated 1.7% of Canadians reported that their household had recently accessed free food or meals from a community organization. The corresponding percentage was 9.3% among those living in food-insecure households.

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