Priscila Pena Camargo¹, Erica Costa Rodrigues¹, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes², Natália Caldeira de Carvalho³, Adriana Lúcia Meireles², Raquel de Deus Mendonça^2,

The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated food insecurity mainly among the most vulnerable populations. Food availability is an important tool for monitoring food security, as it allows the quality of food consumed to be assessed. We investigated food availability in households with children and adolescents during the suspension of school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of public-school students (n = 611). Socioeconomic factors, food insecurity, and food availability were investigated through telephone interviews with those responsible for purchasing and/or cooking foods in households. Multiple linear regression was used to verify the associations between food availability, Socioeconomic factors, and food insecurity. Of those interviewed, 92.2% were females, 80.2% declared themselves brown or black, and 50.7% were unemployed. Of the households, 82.0% experienced food insecurity, and 64.9% had a low socioeconomic classification. A negative correlation was identified between availability of healthy food and food insecurity (r=-0.64; p<0.001) and negative association with not married marital status (p=0.004), a higher number of children (p=0.020), low socioeconomic status (p<0.001), a drop in family income (p=0.001), and household food insecurity (p<0.001). Households with children and adolescents had unsatisfactory food availability associated with social vulnerability.

Food Security, Student Health, Food availability, Schoolchildren