1. Food Insecurity in Scotland: Insights from the Scottish Health Survey
Catriona Rooke
Senior Researcher
Communities Analysis Division

2. Background
Trussell Trust report steep rises in food bank use over the last 5 years; however, a minority of those experiencing food insecurity use food aid
In 2016 the Independent Working Group on Food Poverty recommended measuring household food insecurity systematically
Agreed questions on food insecurity would be included in the Scottish Health Survey
Current End Hunger UK campaign to routinely measure food insecurity in the UK

3. What do we know?
19% of all people in Scotland - 24% of children - were living in relative poverty AHC in
JRF estimated that 1.55 million people were destitute at some point during 2017 in the UK
Trussell Trust report that from April March 2018, the network gave out 170,625 3-day emergency food supplies
A 2014 UN survey found 10% of people in the UK were ‘moderately food insecure’

4. The Scottish Health Survey
Designed to give a representative sample of the general population living in private households - clustered, stratified multi-stage sample design
Principal focus is cardiovascular disease and related risk factors
In 2017, 3,697 adults and 1,603 children took part in the survey
Interviews conducted using combination of Computer Assisted Interviewing and self-completed paper questionnaires.

5. 3 questions from the FIES
During the last 12 months, was there a time when:
You were worried you would run out of food because of a lack of money or other resources?
…you were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food because of a lack of money or other resources?
…you ate only a few kinds of foods because of a lack of money or other resources?
…you had to skip a meal because there was not enough money or other resources to get food?
You ate less that you thought you should because of a lack of money or other resources?
Your household ran out of food because of lack of money of other resources
…you were hungry but did not eat because there was not enough money or other resources for food?
…you went without eating for a whole day because of a lack of money or other resources?

6. “The set of eight questions compose a scale that covers a range of severity of food insecurity:” 
UN FAO:
You were worried you would run out of food because of a lack of money or other resources?
You ate less that you thought you should because of a lack of money or other resources?
Your household ran out of food because of lack of money of other resources

7. Food insecurity in Scotland 2017
8% of adults said that they were worried they would run out of food due to a lack of money or resources
7% said they ate less than they should due to lack of money or other resources
4% said they had run out of food due to lack of money or resources
N.B. The estimates for prevalence of people eating less than they should/running out of food are population estimates; however as the questions were only asked of those that were worried about running out of food this may slightly underestimate prevalence
Scottish Government (2018) Scottish Health Survey 2017: Volume 1: Main Report:

8. Worrying about running out of food was significantly associated with age
Food insecurity
Age
16-34
45-64
65+
Total
Men
Worried 13 6 1 8
Ate less 11 5 7
Ran out 4
Women 10

9. Single adult households were more likely to be food insecure
Hhold Type
Food insecurity
Single adult
Single parent
Single older
Single family
Older smaller family
Large adult
Small adult
Large family
Worried 20 21 2 8 1 6 9 11
Ate less 18 7 4 10
Ran out 14 5

10. There was a relationship between food insecurity & area deprivation

11. What data are available in the UK?
Family Resources Survey
Labour Force Survey
Scottish Health Survey
National Diet & Nutrition Survey
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Some Scottish data in the SHeS
Food Foundation, Household food insecurity: the missing data, 2016

12. How does this fit with other indicators?
UK data (2014): 10% of people moderately food insecure (UK - UN); 13% of households marginally food insecure, 8% severely food insecure (England, Wales, NI - FSA)
GoWell survey (2016): 4% of respondents in deprived areas of Glasgow had used a food bank; 18% reported having difficulty paying for food
Affordability of healthy food (2018): 24% of households in Scotland would need to spend more than a quarter of their disposable income to meet the Eatwell Guide

13. How does this fit with what we know about who is at risk?
GoWell survey (2016) found the highest rate of food bank use among single adults and single parents; being male, younger than 40 and not working increased odds of use
Survey of Trussell Trust food bank users (2017) found lone parent households constitute the largest number of people receiving help, though single male households are the most common household type
CAS (2016) found clients needing advice about food parcels were younger, more likely to be male and the majority were single adults
Food and You survey (2016) found women, younger people and households in the lowest income quartile more likely to live in food insecure households.

14. Next steps
Same questions included in the SHeS in 2018 and 2019 (local breakdowns)
SDG 2 is to End Hunger: measure of this included in the NPF (based on this data), linked to poverty & human rights outcomes
A full module of questions on food insecurity
Additional analysis of 2017 data – demographic characteristics/health outcomes

15. Thank you for listening
Any questions/clarifications?
Some questions to consider:
How do you think you/your organisation will use this information? How does it fit with your current understandings?
What additional analysis of this data do you think would be useful to you/your organisation?