Back to Top ↑
!We see that you are viewing this website on Internet Explorer 10 or older.
To get the best possible experience while using our website, we recommend that you upgrade your browser to Google Chrome.

Unmet Food Needs

Indicator #43: Unmet Food Needs

Indicator 43: Percentage of BC students in grades 7–12 who report that they go to bed hungry because there is not enough money for food at home.

 

Jump to Figure Notes and Sources

 

Key Messages

  • Food security is required to support healthy food choices, and healthy food choices are vitally important for good health and well-being. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.1
  • Food insecurity is an important public health problem for children and youth. It is associated with a range of adverse effects on health as well as on development and academic performance. It is also connected to behavioural and psychological problems, and contributes to higher levels of stress.2 According to Health Canada, moderate food insecurity is when a household has a compromised quality and/or quantity of food consumed, and severe food insecurity is when a household has reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns.3
  • Unmet food needs, or having insufficient food in a home, is closely associated with low-income households that cannot afford to purchase foods that constitute a healthy diet.4  Healthy foods tend to be more expensive than high-energy foods of low nutritional value.5
  • In Canada and many other developed nations, food insecurity is usually due to inadequate income.6  Certain subsets of Canadian households, such as those involving single parents, the disabled, the unemployed, and Aboriginal people living both on reserve and off reserve, are particularly at risk for experiencing food insecurity.7  In fact, Statistics Canada reports that among various household types, single-parent families with children under 18 reported the highest rate of household food insecurity, at 22.6 per cent in 2011–2012.8
  • Figure 43.1 indicates that the unmet food needs of youth in grades 7 to 12 in BC decreased between 2008 and 2013; however, in 2013 there were still 7.4 percent of BC youth reporting the most severe form of food insecurity (that they went to bed hungry because there was not enough money for food at home). 
  • Figures 43.2 and 43.3 show that there were geographic differences in the unmet food needs of youth in grades 7 to 12 in BC in 2013. Health service delivery areas (HSDAs) in the Lower Mainland had the lowest percentage of youth with unmet food needs, while HSDAs in northern BC had the highest.

 

Figure Notes and Sources

Figure 43.1

Notes: "Who went to bed hungry" means they went to bed hungry "sometimes," "often," or "always" because there was not enough money for food at home. The difference between 2008 and 2013 was statistically significant for all groups. The difference between sexes was statistically significant for 2008 only.

Data source: McCreary Centre Society, BC Adolescent Health Survey, 2008, 2013. Prepared by the Surveillance and Epidemiology Team, BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer, 2016.
 

Figure 43.2

Notes: "Who went to bed hungry" means they went to bed hungry "sometimes," "often," or "always" because there was not enough money for food at home. Health authority is based on the location of the school.

Data source: McCreary Centre Society, BC Adolescent Health Survey, 2013. Prepared by the Surveillance and Epidemiology Team, BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer, 2016.
 

Figure 43.3.

Notes: "Who went to bed hungry" means they went to bed hungry "sometimes," "often," or "always" because there was not enough money for food at home. Health service delivery area is based on the location of the school.

Data source: McCreary Centre Society, BC Adolescent Health Survey, 2013. Prepared by the Surveillance and Epidemiology Team, BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer, 2016.

 

References

  1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome declaration on world food security and world food summit plan of action. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 1996 [cited 2016 Mar 31]. Available from: www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm.
  2. Jyoti DF, Frongillo EA, Jones SJ. Food insecurity affects school children's academic performance, weight gain, and social skills. J Nutr. 2005 Dec;135(12):2831-9.
  3. Health Canada. Household food insecurity in Canada: overview. Ottawa, ON: Health Canada; [modified 2012 Jul 25; cited 2016 Jun 27]. Available from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/surveill/nutrition/commun/insecurit/index-….
  4. Politicians need to combat Canada’s food insecurity. Vancouver Sun; 2011 Mar 8.
  5. Monsivais P, Drewnowski A. The rising cost of low-energy-density foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007 Dec;107(12):2071-6.
  6. Wilde, P. Food security policy in developed countries. In: Lusk JL, Roosen J, Shogren JF, editors. The Oxford handbook of the economics of food consumption and policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2012 [cited 2016 Apr 7]. Available from: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199569441.001….
  7. Health Canada, Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Health Products and Food Branch. Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 2.2, nutrition (2004): income-related household food security in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Health Canada; 2007 [cited 2016 Apr 7]. Available from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/surveill/income….
  8. Roshanafshar S, Hawkins E. Food insecurity in Canada. Health at a Glance [Catalogue no. 82-624-X]. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Industry; 2015 [cited 2016 Mar 31]. Available from: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2015001/article/14138-eng.pdf.