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This paper hypothesizes that there is a common "core" to the household food insecurity experience that goes beyond insufficient food quantity and that transcends culture. The paper for the first time employs an exploratory approach to identify cross-cultural commonalities of the food insecurity experience as captured in 22 scales and related ethnographies derived from 15 different countries. The constant comparative method was used to code elements of the food insecurity experience expressed in the ethnographies and to regroup them into domains and subdomains. This typology was then applied to ascertain which experiential domains and subdomains were measured (or not) across all 22 studies. Survey data from 11 of the studies were then analyzed to assess similarities in the relative frequency with which culturally diverse households responded to questionnaire items related to these common domains/subdomains. The analysis confirmed that insufficient food quantity, inadequate food quality, and uncertainty and worry about food were a significant part of the food insecurity experience in all sampled cultures; concerns about social unacceptability emerged in all ethnographic accounts. Several subdomains were identified, such as concern over food safety and meal pattern disruption, with potentially important consequences for physical and psychological well-being. The comparative survey data showed that the relative frequency at which populations responded to domain-related questionnaire items was similar across all but a few cultures. Future food insecurity assessments should consider these core domains and subdomains as the starting point for measures that can generate rich information to inform food security policies and programs.

This paper compares a qualitative and a quantitative (Rasch) method of item assessment for developing the content of a food insecurity scale for Bangladesh. Data are derived from the Bangladesh Food Insecurity Measurement and Validation Study, in which researchers collected 2 rounds of ethnographic information and 3 rounds of conventional household survey data between 2001 and 2003. The qualitative method of scale development relied on content experts and respondents themselves to evaluate household food insecurity items generated through ethnographic research. The quantitative method applied the Rasch model to assess the fit of the same items using representative survey data. The Rasch model was then used to test for differential item functioning (DIF) across diverse demographic and geographic subgroups. The qualitative assessment flagged and discarded 10 items, leaving 13. The Rasch assessment of infit and outfit flagged 3 items, and the Rasch DIF test discarded another 10 items, leaving a total of 10 items in the Rasch-derived scale. The 2 scales contained 8 of the same items. The qualitatively and quantitatively derived scales were highly correlated (r = 0.96, P < 0.01), and the 2 methods located 90% of households in the same food insecurity tercile. This convergence lends added confidence to the use of either scale for identifying food-insecure households in different regions of Bangladesh. Multiple methods should continue to be applied in a systematic and transparent way to lend additional credence to the results when they converge and to pinpoint directions for further clarification where they do not.

This article explores whether social capital-a measure of trust, reciprocity and social networks-is positively associated with household food security, independent of household-level socioeconomic factors. Interviews were conducted in 330 low-income households from Hartford, Connecticut. Social capital was measured using a 7-item Likert scale and was analyzed using household- and community-level scores. Household food security and hunger were measured using the US Household Food Security Module. chi2 tests were used to examine associations between social capital, food security and household demographic characteristics. Logistic regression was used to examine whether household- and community-level social capital decreases the odds of household hunger, and to estimate which household characteristics increase the likelihood of having social capital. Consistent with our hypotheses, social capital, at both the household and community levels, is significantly associated with household food security in these data. Community-level social capital is significantly associated with decreased odds of experiencing hunger (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.47 [95% CI 0.28, 0.81], P<0.01), while controlling for household socioeconomic status. Results show that households with an elderly member are over two and a half times as likely to have high social capital (AOR=2.68 [1.22, 5.87], P<0.01) than are non-elderly households, after controlling for socioeconomic status. Having a household member who participates in a social or civic organization is also significantly associated with having higher levels of social capital. Social capital, particularly in terms of reciprocity among neighbors, contributes to household food security. Households may have similarly limited financial or food resources, but households with higher levels of social capital are less likely to experience hunger.

Objective: To examine participation in the Food Stamp Program, food pantries, and soup kitchens and to identify reasons food-insecure households choose not to participate., Design: Cross-sectional retrospective cohort study., Setting: In respondents' homes., Participants: 330 randomly selected low-income households (below 185% of poverty)., Main Outcome Measures: Participation in any of 3 public or private food assistance programs and barriers to participation in each program., Analysis: Chi-square tests of association between program participation and sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression tested for associations between program participation and ethnicity and between food security status and household composition while controlling for potential confounding factors., Results: Controlling for socioeconomic status, Black households are less than half as likely to receive food stamps (odds ratio [OR] = 0.49; P <.02) as Hispanic households. Hispanic households are more likely than non-Hispanic households to say that they feel uncomfortable using food pantries (P <.01). Elderly households are less than half as likely to receive food stamps (OR = 0.44; P =.04) as nonelderly households and are more likely to say that they feel uncomfortable receiving food stamps (P =.05)., Conclusions and Implications: Low-income households' perceptions of which programs are socially acceptable differ by race and age. Outreach for food stamps and private food assistance should accommodate these differences so that food-insecure households can benefit from all available food assistance.