Adolescent-reported household food security and dietary diversity with associative factors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey with follow-up in Nagcarlan, Laguna Province, Philippines.

Abstract

Food security (FS) has rarely been studied from the adolescent's perspective. This paper describes FS, dietary diversity scores (DDS) and their predictors among Filipino boys and girls (aged 10-16 years) living in rural areas of the municipality of Nagcarlan, Laguna Province. Dietary intake (24-h recall) and other data were collected from adolescents and their caregivers before (T1: October-December 2019; N 285) and during (T2: August-October 2020; N 152) the COVID-19 community quarantine and analysed using multivariable Poisson regression. Perceived household FS by the adolescents increased from 34·7 % (T1) to 46·4 % (T2). At both timepoints, being a girl predicted better FS, whereas mental health problems were inversely related. At T2, mobility restrictions impacted FS negatively, whereas engagement in both food barter and edible gardening showed better FS. Dietary diversity improved from T1 to T2 (median DDS at T1:3, DDS > 5:23·2 %; and at T2:4; 26·4 %). Either number of siblings (T1) or household size (T2) was inversely related to DDS. At T1, better education of the household head and having a household member working overseas predicted better DDS, whereas at T2, mobility restrictions and belonging to the highest wealth tertile showed inverse associations. We conclude that FS and dietary diversity of Filipino adolescents in rural Nagcarlan did not deteriorate during the first months of COVID-19 community quarantine. Whereas mobility restrictions affected both FS and DDS negatively, food barter and edible gardening showed to be successful coping mechanisms. Further investigation should clarify the inverse relationship between wealth index and DDS and the role of food aid during the pandemic.