Association of socioeconomic, labor and health variables related to Food Insecurity in workers of the Popular Restaurants in the city of Rio de Janeiro

Objective This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of perceived food insecurity in households of employees of Popular Restaurants, as well as associate this perception with socioeconomic, labor and health variables. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of 273 workers from seven restaurants located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We applied a questionnaire with different scales and anthropometric measurements were taken. Assessment of food insecurity was performed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale, classifying individuals in food security and food insecurity. The analyses were performed by calculating the gross and adjusted odds ratio. The logistic regression was performed considering three groups of variables: socio-economic, employment and health. Results The estimated prevalence of food insecurity was 53.7%. The variables: education (OR=2.39; 95% CI= 1.38-4.16), time working in kitchens < 29 months (OR=2.72; 95% CI= 1.44-5.16) and opinion on the satisfaction with food composition and regularity (OR=2.01; 95% CI= 1.12-3.57) were significantly associated with food insecurity. Conclusion Although the study population find themselves inserted into a social facility to promote food security, food insecurity results are worrying. Additionally, factors like lower education and less time working in restaurants increased the chance to realize their households in food insecurity.