Inseguridad alimentaria y variedad de la alimentación en hogares Mexicanos con niños menores de cinco años

Abstract

Objective: To describe the variety of feeding in households with children under five years by level of food insecurity. Materials and methods: We analyzed data from the database of the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2008, using the Mexican Scale for Food Security and constructed variables for "per capita expenditure", "purchase frequency" and "quantity purchased" for 12 food groups, associating them with food insecurity (FI). Results: The prevalence of households classified with food insecurity was 48%. We found a relationship between lower food variety and greater food insecurity, with a possible "substitution effect" of protein sources among households with FI. Conclusion: As food insecurity severity increased, the variety of the diet decreased.