Food insecurity, habits, and working conditions in subsistence workers during COVID-19 isolation, Medellin, Colombia, 2021.

Introduction: Mandatory isolation and quarantine measures implemented between 2020 and 2021 had important repercussions on labor dynamics. Objectives: To identify the characteristics of COVID-19 isolation, as well as the habits and working conditions that characterize food insecurity in subsistence workers in Medellin, Colombia, in 2021. Methods: Cross-sectional study using primary data sources. An interviewer-administered survey was conducted among 656 workers selected through snowball sampling. Results: Overall, 56.4% were men and 74.7% were aged ≥45 years. Furthermore, 89.9% of women were the primary household income provider, and 74.8% did not have a partner. Alcohol and tobacco use were more frequent among men, and 43.0% of women consumed two meals a day. Furthermore, 95.6% of participants underwent mandatory quarantine; 73.2% remained isolated > 12 weeks; and 77.0% received support during isolation. The prevalence of moderate/severe food insecurity was 44.1%, increasing to 51.4% among women. Conditions characterizing food insecurity included being female, consuming one meal a day, not having a partner, being the primary household income provider, lacking work permit, not receiving government food assistance, making payment arrangements with landlords, and receiving food assistance from a university. Conclusions: Although food insecurity decreased by 10 percentage points, the conditions characterizing it reveal the subsistence circumstances experienced by workers, particularly women, whose social and occupational disadvantage deepened.