Food Security and Dietary Diversity in Mexican Households
摘要
Achieving food security and improving nutrition among individuals are fundamental aspects that the FAO has sought to promote among all its members, emphasizing the need for public policies directed towards this goal and for objective measurements to assess progress towards this objective. To this end, different member countries have undertaken actions to quantify the problem, generate diagnoses establishing principles of causality, and implement specific public policy actions. In the case of Mexico, the most prominent tool available is the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT), which serves as the basis for designing interventions aimed at achieving SDG 2. To describe the dietary habits of Mexican households, measure and monitor food security issues among the population, and generate inputs for the development of improvement proposals to achieve SDG 2 “Zero Hunger” of the 2030 Agenda. Materials and methods. Based on poverty results from the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy and ENSANUT (National Health and Nutrition Survey Continuous 2022. Available in National Institute of Public Health: https://ensanut.insp.mx/encuestas/ensanutcontinua2022/index.php , 2022), a classification of different highly nutritious foods accessible to the Mexican population was constructed, with emphasis on those foods that are not accessible physically, economically, and/or socially in adequate quantity and quality. Dietary information was collected using a food frequency questionnaire. We were wondering what is the level of consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other highly nutritious foods among the Mexican population by age groups? And ENSANUT reveals a dimension of highly restricted food consumption where a significant number of high-nutrient foods such as fruits and vegetables are not part of the Mexican diet.