Food insecurity experienced by children, adolescents, or adults is associated with
many substantial consequences on diet, nutrition, physical health, mental health,
behavior, learning, family cohesion, physical activity, and other outcomes [1]. These
consequences of food insecurity can result from nutritional, biological, psychologic,
and social mechanisms because food insecurity can affect dietary intake and is a profound
stressor [2]. The development of measures of experiences of food insecurity that are
valid and cross-context equivalent has provided national and global monitoring data
on population burden and enabled extensive research on the determinants and consequences
of food insecurity over the past 35 years [3].
The usefulness of the construct of food insecurity and its experience-based measures
have helped fuel interest in other forms of material-need insecurity such as water,
housing, transportation, finances, and health care. The conceptualization and development
of measures of these other forms of material-need insecurity are nascent, except for
water insecurity, for which recent efforts have clarified its conceptualization and
developed household and individual measures [4].
The construct of water insecurity is understood to comprise availability, access,
use, and stability, all of which are relevant for understanding food insecurity [4].
Much of the assessment of water insecurity has been based on physical measures of
water for populations, geographic hydration areas, or sanitation; however, measures
of household and individual experiences of water insecurity that are valid and cross-context
equivalent have recently been developed [4,5]. Water insecurity is understood to have
negative consequences on nutritional, physical, mental, economic, and political well-being.
Quantitative documentation of these consequences is being enabled through data collected
on households and individuals using experience-based measures of water insecurity
[4].
Food insecurity and water insecurity are potentially connected in multiple ways [4].
First, they can coexist in the same areas, households, and individuals. Second, they
can act together as stressors. Third, physical, biological, and behavioral mechanisms
can link them. For example, unsafe water causes diarrhea in children, thereby affecting
feeding and nutrition. Another example is that lack of water causes decreased agricultural
productivity, thereby affecting food security. In many contexts, agriculture is an
important livelihood activity through which food insecurity and water insecurity intersect.
In these contexts, when water insecurity is present, trade-offs between allocating
water for agricultural purposes or consumption may be required. Agricultural livelihood
interventions, such as one implemented in western Kenya that provided intervention
recipients with a foot-powered water pump (along with agricultural and financial training
as well as other inputs), have the potential to alleviate both food insecurity and
water insecurity [6].
Food insecurity and water insecurity were associated in nationally representative
samples of individuals from 25 low- and middle-income countries in 2020, as determined
using established experience-based scales for food insecurity and water insecurity
[7]. Among 18.3% of people who experienced water insecurity, 66.8% also experienced
moderate-to-severe food insecurity, and the prevalence of experiencing moderate-to-severe
food insecurity was 2.69 times higher for those who also experienced water insecurity
[7]. This study demonstrated that food insecurity and water insecurity intersect but
did not address what that intersection means for the health of individuals.
In an article in this issue of The Journal of Nutrition, Charles et al. [8] provided
evidence about the health consequences associated with the intersection of food insecurity
and water insecurity in their study of the detrimental effects of the coronavirus
disease 2019 pandemic on women living in informal settlements in Indonesia. Food insecurity
was assessed based on 2 items, limiting portion size and limiting the number of meals
in a day, similar to items used in validated experience-based scales [3]. Water insecurity
was assessed using the 4-item version of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences
scale. Food insecurity and water insecurity were associated with symptoms of depression
through a statistical interaction, with women who experienced both the forms of insecurity
having more symptoms of depression. In their model that adjusted for wealth, disability,
and financial situation, for example, water insecurity was not associated with symptoms
of depression (difference in symptoms of 0.1) if women did not experience food insecurity
but was associated with symptoms of depression (difference of 0.9) if women experienced
food insecurity. From the opposite perspective, the association of food insecurity
with symptoms of depression was weaker (difference of 1.5) when women did not experience
water insecurity and stronger (difference of 2.3) when women experienced water insecurity.
Overall, in this Indonesian study, food insecurity was more strongly associated with
symptoms of depression than water insecurity.
In western Kenya, food insecurity and water insecurity were not strongly associated
with each other; however, each was associated independently with physical and mental
health [9]. The magnitude of the association with physical health was lower for food
insecurity than for water insecurity, whereas the magnitude of the association with
mental health was about the same as that for food insecurity and water insecurity.
This sample was selected intentionally from a subpopulation that experienced moderate
or severe food insecurity, which makes interpreting differences in the magnitudes
of the associations difficult. The associations of food insecurity and water insecurity
with physical and mental health were additive, i.e., with no evidence of statistical
interaction.
Given that food and water are basic material needs that intersect, the inability to
meet these needs is detrimental to physical and mental health. The challenges to ensuring
food security and water security are increasing because of climate change and other
global forces that affect all countries, which means that actions to jointly address
food insecurity and water insecurity must be a global priority [4]. To inform such
actions, taking an intersectional perspective will be helpful. From an intersectional
perspective, social identities, conditions, and experiences may converge in an individual
and may interact with social systems in the context in which the individual lives,
potentially resulting in synergistic effects on health [10,11]. The Indonesian study
[8] provided evidence for such synergistic effects of food insecurity and water insecurity;
however, the western Kenyan study [9] highlighted that synergism may not be seen in
all contexts, perhaps because of social, cultural, economic, or structural differences
in contexts as well as differences in sampled populations and measures used. As qualitative
and quantitative research from this perspective unfolds, the intersection of other
forms of material-need insecurity besides food insecurity and water insecurity should
be considered. Doing so will require the development of valid and cross-context-equivalent
measures for these other forms of insecurity.
Funding
The author reported no funding received for this study.
Author disclosures
The author reports no conflicts of interest.