ArticlePublic health nutrition2024
Food insecurity and coping strategies associate with higher risk of anxiety and depression among South African households with children.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food insecurity and mental health in South Africa: Structural pathways linking socioeconomic position, behavioural risk factors and comorbidity.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Recycling Workers: Food Insecurity as a Novel Associated Risk Factor for Toxocariasis.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Water-Energy-Food Security and Health in South Africa: A Scoping Review.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- The Epidemiology of the Global Syndemic in Africa: New Evidence and Key Insights.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Conceptualisation and measurement of child hunger: a rapid review.Public health nutrition · 2026Review
- Historic drought shifted fishing from a stigmatized practice and food to an adaptive livelihood among Daasanach pastoralists in northern Kenya.Research square · 2026Article
- Food-related coping strategies against food insecurity among households in selected communities in South-East Nigeria.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Mental health disorders, and associated factors among children aged 6-17 years living in Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Article
- Preconception mental health (Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative): Identifying factors associated with probable anxiety and depression among young women living in urban-poor South Africa.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Food security in rural South Africa: The role of household head demographics, crowding, and wealth.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Breaking the Cycle of Malnutrition: The Role of Food and Nutrition Literacy in Addressing Food Insecurity Among Lebanese Adolescents.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of food insecurity during pregnancy: a multicenter survey in French Guiana.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Geospatial Analysis of Food Insecurity and Adverse Human Health Outcomes in the United States.GeoHealth · 2025Article
- Social Support, Coping Strategies, Depression, Anxiety, and Cognitive Function Among People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Path Analysis.Psychiatry investigation · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate food insecurity and related coping strategies, and their associations with the risk of anxiety and depression, among South African households with children.
designNationally representative cross-sectional study. Tools for assessing food insecurity, coping strategies, risk of anxiety and depression were assessed from the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project, Coping Strategies Index, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9, respectively. We used ordered logistic regression to test associations of food insecurity and coping strategies with the risk of anxiety and depression. Moderating effects of each coping strategy were tested in the associations of food insecurity with anxiety and depression.
settingSouth Africa, post COVID-19 restrictions, May-June 2022.
participants1,774 adults, weighted to 20,955,234 households.
resultsFood insecurity prevalence was 23·7 % among households with children. All coping strategies were used to some extent, but relying on less preferred and less expensive foods was the most used strategy (85·5 % of food-insecure households). Moving to a higher level of food insecurity was associated with >1·6 greater odds of being in a higher risk of anxiety and depression. Sending a household member to beg for food was the strongest associated factor (OR = 1·7,
conclusionsFood insecurity among households with children was high following the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaborative efforts between government, private sector and civil society to eradicate food insecurity should prioritise poorer households with children, as these populations are the most vulnerable.
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