Prevalence of adolescent-reported food insecurity and the determinants including coping strategies living in urban slum communities of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

AbstractBackground This study aimed to identify the prevalence of adolescent-reported food insecurity and its association with individual and socio-environmental factors as well as coping strategies from low to middle income countries like Bangladesh. Methods A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted amongst 326 adolescents (12–18 years) living in the urban slums of Narayanganj, Dhaka from April to May, 2022. Adolescent-reported food insecurity was assessed using a structured questionnaire adopted from Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and ordinal logistic regression were used to draw inference. Results Prevalence of adolescent-reported food insecurity was high (46.6% moderate and 29.8% severe). Individual factors such as younger age (12–14 years) (Adjusted Odds ratio (AOR) = 1.658), lower education (AOR = 1.525), unemployment (AOR = 5.365) and socio-environmental factors such as five or more family members (AOR = 1.734), female household head (AOR = 4.728) and low education of household head (AOR = 4.232), only one earning family member (AOR = 2.693), unemployed father (AOR = 2.988), neither self-owned nor rented household (AOR = 4.973), no household asset owned (AOR = 39.653), food aid received by the family during pandemic (AOR = 2.561) and Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) infection in family (AOR = 4.697) and coping strategy factors such as higher number of food seeking strategies (AOR = 3.353) and substances used (AOR = 6.186) and stopping school (AOR = 3.300) were strongly associated with food insecurity. Stratified by drop-out of school status, an association between food seeking strategies and food insecurity remained significant among those school-going, while there was no association among those dropping out of school. Conclusion This study showed that adolescents from underprivileged communities are at very high risk of food insecurity and resort to harmful coping strategies, which raises concern about their physical and mental health in the long run. Therefore, our findings support the recommendation that it is crucial to understand adolescent reported food insecurity and coping strategies to assess adolescent wellbeing in low to middle income countries (LMICs).