Food insecurity, hunger and consumption of ultra-processed food products

Abstract

The present BEPE proposal refers to a five-month period and is part of a post-doctoral research project in the MINA Study. During the first year the need for a complementary focused approach was identified to understand the role that food insecurity plays in the consumption of ultra-processed food products (UPP). Thus, this addition to the original post-doctorate project aims to understand the influence of food insecurity on UPP consumption, and to develop an instrument to access the effects of hunger on food choices, especially UPP. The proposal is divided into three main activities. The first concerns qualitative analysis of the data already collected in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil, during the first year of the post-doctoral research project using content analysis to investigate how women's food insecurity reflects on their consumption of UPP and other eating practices, such as buying food, cooking and feeding the family. The two other activities of this proposal will address a methodological question: how can we assess the effects of hunger on UPP consumption? This will allow a deeper understanding of the relation between an important aspect of food insecurity - hunger - and UPP consumption among the population being studied. For this, a systematic review of the literature on hunger will be conducted followed by the development of an instrument based on empirical (from the qualitative analysis) and theoretical (from the systematic review) data to assess the effects of hunger on the UPP consumption on the MINA population, and potentially on others as well. Additionally, this work will help the post-doctoral fellow (1) developing her academic skills and (2) preparing for future steps of the post-doctoral research. (AU)