Food poverty among adolescents in Europe: How can it be explained?

Background
Despite remarkable progress over time, food poverty remains to be an important public health issue throughout Europe. The aim of this study was to examine how both individual and country level characteristics are associated with food poverty among adolescents in Europe.

Methods
The analysis was based on 173 256 adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 from 31 European countries who participated in the 2005-2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. In order to explain food poverty the individual (gender, age, family socioeconomic status) and country level (GDP per capita, annual GDP percentage growth rate, Gini coefficient) variables were included in this analysis. Macroeconomic data were taken from the 2006 World Development Indicators database. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression models.

Results
In Europe, food poverty ranked from 5.7% in Portugal to 28.5% in France. There was no significant difference in reported food poverty between eastern, central and northern Europe. At the individual level, food poverty was strongly associated with being a boy, being younger and belonging to the low SES group. Adolescents from families of the low SES group were more likely to report food poverty, notably in Estonia (OR (95CI): 2.63(1.98-3.48), Romania (OR (95CI): 2.35 (1.75-3.16), Portugal (OR (95CI): 2.25 (1.54-3.29) and Spain (OR (95CI): 2.01 (1.62-2.48).  Food poverty was found to be distributed among low, middle and high SES groups in all European countries but no significant differences were observed in Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The country level variables were not significantly associated with food poverty.

Conclusions
Food poverty among European adolescents could be explained by social inequalities. Policies to tackle food poverty should focus on social and economic development. A major challenge for each country remains to adopt an effective food poverty reduction strategy according to its own needs and circumstances.