Food insecurity in Mexican older people from rural areas

Food insecurity in Mexican older people from rural areas Little research on the relations between food insecurity and nutritional status in Latin American older populations has been carried out. This work analyzes selected indicators of access to food, nutritional status and sociodemographic variables in older people from rural areas of Mexico. Results show a high prevalence of inadequate or uncertain access to food at the individual (90.2%) . In addition, a high prevalence of malnutrition, both overweight (17.9, 15.9%) and undernutrition, (25.0, 38.1%) was found. Older rural women assume and are assumed as supplier man/nurse woman at both the community and at the household levels. The prevalences of both food insecurity and malnutrition were higher in older women in comparison to older men. This study confirms, to some extent, the so-called feminization of the aging process, poverty and food insecurity. Most of the elderly lived in multigenerational homes as a result of economic dependency. High percentages of women (46.7%) were found in most households, thus limiting women leadership regarding decision making, intra-household allocation of resources, and other core aspects of livelihood. Multigenerational households also showed high prevalences of food insecurity (77.0%). Limited or null sources of social, institutional and family support for older people were found in this study (50.5%), regardless of the important presence of informal safety nets. In spite of the presence and extension of networks, food insecurity was found to be associated to poor health. More research is needed to deepen in the analysis not only of the relationships between food insecurity, poverty and social inequalities in old age, but also in other indicators of access to food in older populations such as diet diversity, social and family support, income and expenditure and social assistance, among others.