Food insecurity in households with children and adolescents under the intersectionality between gender and race/skin color.

Food insecurity refers to the lack of reliable access to quality food necessary for survival and well-being. It affects one's physical, emotional, and cognitive health across different life stages. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity in Brazilian households with no children/adolescents, one child/adolescent, or two or more children/adolescents, considering intersections of race/skin color, gender, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. We used data from 57,920 households from the 2017-2018 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. Perceived food insecurity at the household level was assessed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA, acronym in Portuguese), classifying households as food secure or experiencing any level of insecurity. A generalized linear regression model for complex sampling data, with binomial distribution and logarithmic link function, was adopted to verify the association between multiple variables and food insecurity prevalence. Overall, 36.7% (95%CI: 35.9; 37.5) of households experienced food insecurity with prevalence increasing as the number of children or adolescents rose (39%, 95%CI: 37.7; 40.2 in households with one child/adolescent and 51.3%, 95%CI: 50.0; 52.6 in those with two or more). Households earning less than 0.5 minimum wage had a food insecurity prevalence 3.4 times higher (95%CI: 3.2; 3.7) than those earning over two minimum wage. Food insecurity was also more prevalent in households headed by black/mixed-race individuals and when the number of children/adolescents was higher - except among black/mixed-race women, who experienced high food insecurity levels regardless of household composition. This study reinforces the deeply social nature of this public health issue and the urgent need for public policies to reduce social inequalities and structural racism in Brazil.