Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco)
Food security is defined as a state in which all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. The general objective of this work was to assess the situation of food insecurity and its impact on the quanti...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2604 |
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| author | Rekia Belahsen Mohamed Cherkaoui Ana Isabel Mora Urda Francisco Javier Martín Almena María del Pilar Montero López |
| author_facet | Rekia Belahsen Mohamed Cherkaoui Ana Isabel Mora Urda Francisco Javier Martín Almena María del Pilar Montero López |
| author_sort | Rekia Belahsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Food security is defined as a state in which all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. The general objective of this work was to assess the situation of food insecurity and its impact on the quantity and quality of food consumption during lockdown in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the determinants associated with the different food insecurity (FI) categories on a sample of 2227 people (1168 people from Spain and 1059 people from Morocco). Food insecurity (FI) assessed by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) were compared in both countries, controlling for the effect of sociodemographic variables, age, gender, marital status, and education level. The mean HFIAS was 0.53 in the Spanish and 3.55 in the Moroccan samples (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Only 2.1% of the Spanish sample were in a situation of severe insecurity against 15.5% in Morocco (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Moroccans with moderate and severe food insecurity decreased their consumption of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes, and fruits. The risk of food insecurity was higher in men than in women, in separated or divorced people, in people with secondary and middle education, and in younger people. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cc2fb9fd06eb446883076f6a691f95cc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj-art-cc2fb9fd06eb446883076f6a691f95cc2025-08-20T04:00:53ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-07-011415260410.3390/foods14152604Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco)Rekia Belahsen0Mohamed Cherkaoui1Ana Isabel Mora Urda2Francisco Javier Martín Almena3María del Pilar Montero López4Research Unit on Nutrition and Food Sciences, Laboratory of Anthropogenetic, Biotechnologies and Health, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida 24000, MoroccoLPNAE Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Neurobiologie, Anthropologie et Environnement SNDD, Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable, Faculté de Sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi Ayyad de Marrakech, Marrakech 40000, MoroccoFaculty of Teacher Training, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, SpainArea of Nutrition and Food Science, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, SpainDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, SpainFood security is defined as a state in which all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. The general objective of this work was to assess the situation of food insecurity and its impact on the quantity and quality of food consumption during lockdown in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the determinants associated with the different food insecurity (FI) categories on a sample of 2227 people (1168 people from Spain and 1059 people from Morocco). Food insecurity (FI) assessed by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) were compared in both countries, controlling for the effect of sociodemographic variables, age, gender, marital status, and education level. The mean HFIAS was 0.53 in the Spanish and 3.55 in the Moroccan samples (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Only 2.1% of the Spanish sample were in a situation of severe insecurity against 15.5% in Morocco (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Moroccans with moderate and severe food insecurity decreased their consumption of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes, and fruits. The risk of food insecurity was higher in men than in women, in separated or divorced people, in people with secondary and middle education, and in younger people.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2604food insecuritylockdownCOVID-19SpainMorocco |
| spellingShingle | Rekia Belahsen Mohamed Cherkaoui Ana Isabel Mora Urda Francisco Javier Martín Almena María del Pilar Montero López Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) Foods food insecurity lockdown COVID-19 Spain Morocco |
| title | Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) |
| title_full | Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) |
| title_fullStr | Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) |
| title_short | Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food Insecurity and Food Quality in Two Mediterranean Countries (Spain and Morocco) |
| title_sort | consequences of covid 19 lockdown on food insecurity and food quality in two mediterranean countries spain and morocco |
| topic | food insecurity lockdown COVID-19 Spain Morocco |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2604 |
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