Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Brazilian food security scale for indigenous Guarani households: Development and validation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Food Security Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In Brazil there are 817,963 Indigenous people distributed across 305 ethnic groups, and speaking 274 different languages. The objective of this paper was to develop and validate an experience-based household food security measurement scale among the Guarani people. A mixed-methods study was conducted between 2007 and 2012 in four Guarani communities located on the coast of Sao Paulo. The qualitative phase involved developing an 11-item scale in full consultation and partnership with representatives from the Indigenous communities. Psychometric testing was conducted in 3 villages from 2011 to 2012 by applying the scale predominantly to adult women. Selected nutritional and social indicators were collected for testing the scale’s external validity. Psychometric testing was done with the Rasch model (N = 88). Severity scores of items followed the theoretically expected ranking order. Nine out of the 11 scale items had an adequate fit to the whole scale (“infit” values ranging from 0.8 to 1.3). Three of these 9 items had severity scores that were very similar to other scale items indicating redundancy of information and thus two of them were dropped from the scale. The final scale was translated into Guarani confirming the face validity of questions and response options for households with children and adolescents. In conclusion, it was possible to develop a valid experience-based Brazilian Food Security Scale for Indigenous Guarani People (EBIA-G) that can now be tested among diverse Indigenous groups in the country.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anjos, H. N. K. d., Toledo, M. J. d. O., Mota, L. T., Previdelli, I. T. S., Anjos, A. F. d., Saruhashi, T. R., Carrara, M. A., & Batista, M. R. (2011). Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Kaingang native americans in southern Brazil. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 54, 81–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benzaken, A. S., Sabidó, M., Brito, I., Bermúdez, X. P. D., Benzaken, N. S., Galbán, E., Peeling, R. W., & Mabey, D. (2017). HIV and syphilis in the context of community vulnerability among indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16, 92. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0589-8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bickel, G., Nord, M., Price, C., Hamilton, W., & Cook, J. (2000) Guide to Measuring Household Food Security, Revised 2000. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Alexandria VA. March, 2000. Or in short form as USDA, Guide.

  • Bond, T., & Fox, C. (2001). Applying the Rasch model: Fundamental measurement in the human sciences (1ed.). Mahwah, New Jersey Lawrence Erbaum Associates.

  • Brandelli, C. L. C., Carli, G. A. d., Macedo, A. J., & Tasca, T. (2012). Intestinal parasitism and socio-environmental factors among Mbyá-Guarani indians, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 54, 119–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brasil (2006) Lei Orgânica da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional - LOSAN. Brasília. http://www4.planalto.gov.br/consea/acesso-a-informacao/legislacao/leis/lei-11.346-de-15-de-setembro-de-2006. Accessed Feb. 2017.

  • Brasil (2010). Constituição Federal do Brasil de 1988; Artigos 231 e 232. (2010 ed.). Imprensa oficial: Governo do Brasil. Brasília, DF.

  • Canada, Ministry of Health (2004). Income-Related Household Food Security in Canada (Canadian Community Health Survey; Cycle 2.2, Nutrition ). Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion Health Products and Food Branch: Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-nutrition-surveillance/health-nutrition-surveys/canadian-community-health-survey-cchs/canadian-community-health-survey-cycle-2-2-nutrition-2004-guide-accessing-interpreting-data-health-canada-2006.html. Accessed February 2018.

  • Cardoso, A. M., Horta, B. L., Coimbra Jr, C. E. A., Follér, M., Souza, M. C., & Santos, R. V (2009). Inquérito Nacional de Saúde e Nutrição dos Povos Indígenas-Brasil ABRASCO. Disponível em: http://www.abrasco.org.br/grupos/arquivos/2013-01-23%2013:44:23.pdf . Acessado em july 2017.

  • Cardoso, A. M., Coimbra Jr., C. E. A., & Tavares, F. G. (2010). Morbidade hospitalar indígena Guarani no Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, 13, 21–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coates, J., Frongillo, E. A., Rogers, B. L., Webb, P., Wilde, P. E., & Houser, R. (2006). Commonalities in the experience of household food insecurity across cultures: What are measures missing? The Journal of Nutrition, 136(5), 1438S–1448S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coimbra, E. A. C. (2014). Saúde e povos indígenas no Brasil: reflexões a partir do I Inquérito Nacional de Saúde e Nutrição Indígena. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 30, 855–859. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00031214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coimbra, C. E., Santos, R. V., Welch, J. R., Cardoso, A. M., de Souza, M. C., Garnelo, L., Rassi, E., Follér, M. L., & Horta, B. L. (2013). The first National Survey of indigenous People’s health and nutrition in Brazil: Rationale, methodology, and overview of results. [journal article]. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council of Canadian Academies (2014). Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge. In A. Food, & Security in Northern Canada: (Eds.), An Assessment of the State of Knowledge. Ottawa, ON: The Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada, Council of Canadian Academies. Accessed February 2018. http://www.scienceadvice.ca/uploads/eng/assessments%20and%20publications%20and%20news%20releases/food%20security/foodsecurity_execsummen.pdf.

  • Fávaro, T., Ribas, D., Zorzatto, J., Segall-Corrêa, A., & Panigassi, G. (2007). Segurança alimentar em famílias indígenas Teréna, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 23, 785–793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FIAN-Internacional (2015). “Diagnóstico sobre a realização dos direitos humanos, em especial os direitos humanos à alimentação e nutrição adequadas e ao território do povo guarani kaiowá no estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. (Vol. 1, pp. 53). Brasilia: FIAN-Internacional. http://www.fian.org/fileadmin/media/publications_2016/Reports_and_guidelines/FIAN_Executive_Summary_GK_-_English_medium.pdf. Accessed February 2018.

  • Gordon, C. (2006). Economia Selvagem. Ritual e Mercadoria entre os Índios Xikrin-Mebêngôkre (Vol. 1). Mana vol.14; no.1; Rio de Janeiro Apr. 2008. Accessed February 2018. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-93132008000100011.

  • Gugelmin, S. A., & Santos, R. V. (2001). Ecologia humana e antropometria nutricional de adultos Xavánte, Mato Grosso, Brasil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 17, 313–322.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guimarães, E. (2013). Relatório Figueiredo em processo. II CONINTER - Congresso Internacional Interdisciplinar em Sociais e Humanidades, 68; https://pt.scribd.com/doc/142787746/Relatorio-Figueiredo. Accessed February 2018.

  • Huet, C., Rosol, R., & Egeland, G. M. (2012). The prevalence of food insecurity is high and the diet quality poor in Inuit Communities1–3. The Journal of Nutrition, 142(3), 541–547. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.111.149278.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • IBGE (2012). Censo Demográfico 2010: Características Gerais dos Indígenas. Resultados do Universo. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Accessed February 2017. http://indigenas.ibge.gov.br/images/pdf/indigenas/folder_indigenas_web.pdf.

  • IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisa, & Coordenação de Trabalho e Renda (2014). Pesquisa nacioanl por Amostra de Domicílios: Segurança Alimentar-PNAD2013. In IBGE (Ed.), (pp. 134): IBGE. https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv91984.pdf. Accessed February 2017.

  • IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2010a). Censo demográfico Indígena. http://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/periodicos/95/cd_2010_indigenas_universo.pdf Accessed February 2017.

  • IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2010b). Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - Segurança Alimentar (Suplemento 2004–2009). Rio de Janeiro: Coordenação de Trabalho e Rendimento. http://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv47241.pdf. Accessed Feb. 2017.

  • IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2014). Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - Segurança Alimentar (Suplemento 2013). Rio de Janeiro: Coordenação de Trabalho e Rendimento. http://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv91984.pdf; Accessed Feb. 2017.

  • International Labor Organization/UN (1989). ILO Convention 169; On Indigenous and Tribal peoples,Part 1- General Policy-Article 1. Geneva. Accessed February 2018. http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169.

  • Leite, M. S.; Santos, R. V.; Coimbra Jr, C. (2007). Sazonalidade e estado nutricional de populações indígenas: o caso Wari', Rondônia, Brasil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, vol. 23, n. 11. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

  • Melgar-Quiñonez, H., Zubieta, A. C., Valdez, E., Whitelaw, B., & Kaiser, L. (2005). Validación de un instrumento para vigilar la inseguridad alimentaria en la Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco. Salud Pública de México, 47, 413–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melgar-Quinonez, H. R., Nord, M., Perez-Escamilla, R., & Segall-Correa, A. M. (2007). Psychometric properties of a modified US-household food security survey module in Campinas, Brazil. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 62(5), 665–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moura, P. G. d., Batista, L. R. V., & Moreira, E. A. M. (2010). População indígena: uma reflexão sobre a influência da civilização urbana no estado nutricional e na saúde bucal. Revista de Nutrição, 23, 459–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orellana, J.D., Cunha M; Santos R.V., Coimbra Jr. C.E., Leite M.S (2011) Prevalência e fatores associados à anemia em mulheres indígenas Suruí com idade entre 15 e 49 anos, Amazônia, Brasil. Rev. Bras. Saude Maternité Infant., Recife, v. 11, n. 2, p.153–161, https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-3829201100020000

  • Perez-Escamilla, R. (2012). Can experience-based household food security scales help improve food security governance? Global Food Security, 1(2), 120–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2012.10.006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Escamilla, R., Segall-Corrêa, A. M., Kurdian Maranha, L., Sampaio, M. D. F. A., Marín-León, L., & Panigassi, G. (2004). An adapted version of the U.S. Department of Agriculture food insecurity module is a valid tool for assessing household food insecurity in Campinas, Brazil. The Journal of Nutrition, 134(8), 1923–1928.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Escamilla, R., Dessalines, M., Finnigan, M., Pachón, H., Hromi-Fiedler, A., & Gupta, N. (2009). Household food insecurity is associated with childhood malaria in rural Haiti. The Journal of Nutrition, 139, 2132–2138. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.108852.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radimer, K. L. (2002). Measurement of household food security in the USA and other industrialised countries. Public Health Nutrition, 5(6a), 859–864. https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2002385.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Segall-Correa, A. M., Perez-Escamilla, R., Marín-León, L., Yuyama, L., Vianna, R. P. T., Coitinho, D., et al. (2009). Evaluation of household food insecurity in Brazil: validity assessment in diverse sociocultural settings. In: FAO-INICIATIVA AMERICA LATINA E CARIBE SIN HAMBRE (Ed.). Concurso RedSan 2007,. v. 1. Santiago-Chile,: Oficina Regional FAO-Chile. 80–101. Available in http://www.bvsde.paho.org/texcom/nutricion/memredsan_3.pdf.

  • Segall-Correa, A. M., Azevedo, M. M., Ferreira, B., Kepple, A. W., & León-Marin, L. (2010). Perception of food insecurity among indigenous Guarani communities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The FASEB Journal, 24(1 Supplement), 104–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. V., Conrad, K. M., Chang, K., & Piazza, J. (2002). An introduction to Rasch measurement for scale development and person assessment. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 10(3), 189–206. https://doi.org/10.1891/jnum.10.3.189.52562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Socioambiental, I. (2017). Povos Indígenas no Brasil. https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/guarani-kaiowa/552. Accessed July 24 2017.

  • Swindale, A., & Bilinsky, P. (2006). Development of a universally applicable household food insecurity measurement tool: Process, current status, and outstanding issues. The Journal of Nutrition, 136(5), 1449S–1452S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teh, L., Pirkle, C., Furgal, C., Fillion, M., & Lucas, M. (2017). Psychometric validation of the household food insecurity access scale among Inuit pregnant women from northern Quebec. PLoS One, 12(6), e0178708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178708.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, L. C., Souza, R. d. S., Sufiate, C. B., Santos, E. M. d., Sipioni, M. E., & Rezende, A. M. B. (2013). Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional entre os Guaranis Mbyá da Aldeia Boa Esperança, Aracruz, Espírito Santo, Bra. [Original]. Revista da Associação Brasileira de Nutrição, 5(1), 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdum, R. (2003). Mapa da fome entre os povos indígenas: uma contribuição à formulação de políticas de segurança alimentar no Brasil. Accessed February 2017. http://revistas.ucpel.tche.br/index.php/rsd/article/viewFile/512/455.

  • Vianna, R. P. T., Hromi-Fiedler, A. J., Segall-Correa, A. M., & Pérez-Escamilla, R. (2012). Household food insecurity in small municipalities in northeastern Brazil: A validation study. [journal article]. Food Security, 4(2), 295–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-012-0181-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willows, N. D., Veugelers, P., Raine, K., & Kuhle, S. (2008). Prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors related to household food security in aboriginal peoples in Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 12(8), 7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980008004345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development-CNPq (Process: 401176/2005). Support Fund for Teaching, Research and Extension, FAEPEX/UNICAMP (Process 519.294 aux) 141/11.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program of Food, Nutrition and Culture-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation – Fiocruz, Brasilia, DF, Brazil

    Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa

  2. Department of Collective Health- Faculty of Medical Science-UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil

    Leticia Marín-Leon & Daniele F. M. Camargo

  3. Center for Population Studies-NEPO-UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil

    Marta Maria do Amaral Azevedo

  4. Faculty of Education-UFGD, Dourados, Brazil

    Maria Beatriz R. Ferreira

  5. Department of Physical Education-UNICENTRO/Pr, Guarapuava, Brazil

    Deoclécio Rocco Gruppi

  6. Health Science Center – UFPB, Paraíba, Brazil

    Rodrigo Pinheiro de Toledo Vianna

  7. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Rafael Pérez-Escamilla

Authors
  1. Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Leticia Marín-Leon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marta Maria do Amaral Azevedo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Maria Beatriz R. Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Deoclécio Rocco Gruppi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Daniele F. M. Camargo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Rodrigo Pinheiro de Toledo Vianna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa.

Ethics declarations

Author disclosures

Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa; Leticia Marín-Leon; Marta Maria Azevedo; Maria Beatriz R. Ferreira; Deoclécio Rocco Gruppi; Daniele F.M. Camargo; Rodrigo Pinheiro T. Vianna; Rafael Pérez-Escamilla declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical

The research project was approved by the Ministry of Health Human Subjects Research Ethics Committee (CONEP N° 1102/2006).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Segall-Corrêa, A.M., Marín-Leon, L., do Amaral Azevedo, M.M. et al. The Brazilian food security scale for indigenous Guarani households: Development and validation. Food Sec. 10, 1547–1559 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0847-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0847-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation