Inverse association between social support and household food insecurity in a metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Objective: To verify the association between perceived social support and household food insecurity (HFI). Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting: A population-based study with a representative sample of households from a metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, conducted in 2010. HFI was estimated with the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA). Social support was assessed using the adapted and validated Brazilian version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between social support and HFI, adjusting for potential confounders. Subjects: Adults (n 1022) aged 19-60 years old (27 % men, 73 % women) who were responsible for feeding the household. Results: Individuals with high scores of social support were less likely to experience moderate HFI (OR = 0.96; 95 % CI 0.94, 0.99) and severe HFI (OR = 0.96; 95 % CI 0.94, 0.98). Conclusions: These findings indicate that social support may contribute to reducing HFI in populations vulnerable to poverty. Strategies to increase social relationships should be encouraged in this group to enhance their perceived social support.