Factors Associated with Food Insecurity Following Hurricane Harvey in Texas
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2020-01-25
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Citation of Original Publication
Clay, Lauren A., and Ashley D. Ross. 2020. "Factors Associated with Food Insecurity Following Hurricane Harvey in Texas" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 3: 762. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030762
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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Abstract
Food insecurity prevalence among disaster-affected households has been found to be
higher than state prevalence in non-disaster times. This study applies a socio-ecological model of
post-disaster food insecurity to a nested quota sample (n = 1002) recruited for a web survey from 41
Texas counties affected by Hurricane Harvey 12–15 months post-event. This analysis identifies risk
and protective factors for food insecurity. Chi-square analysis was used to examine independent
associations between individual, household, and social factors with food insecurity. A multivariate
logistic model was fitted and adjusted odds ratios are reported. Economic instability (adjusted odds
ratio (OR) 2.43; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.73, 3.41), relocation due to Hurricane Harvey (OR 1.89;
CI 1.15, 3.09), major home damage (OR 2.11; CI 1.12, 3.98), non-white race – black (OR 1.79; CI 1.01,
3.18), Hispanic (OR 1.67; CI 1.09, 2.54), other race (OR 4.39; CI 1.96, 9.82) – and community-based
organization assistance (1.99; 1.11, 3.58) were risk factors while older age (45–64 years: 0.49; 0.32, 0.73;
65+ years 0.40; 0.22, 0.75), better physical health (0.46; 0.29, 0.71), better mental health (0.46; 0.32, 0.67),
and high social support (0.37; 0.25, 0.55) were protective against food insecurity. Disaster policies and
programs should address the disproportionate burden on households that relocate or have health
conditions. Fostering social support networks, especially among relocated populations, may improve
disaster health outcomes.