Table 1.
Food purchasing by food insecurity indicators: the Victorian Lifestyle and Neighbourhood Environments Study, Melbourne, Australia, 2003
| Can't afford food (n 2564)† | Difficulty lifting (n 2564)‡ | Limited car access (n 2564)§ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | No (n 2358; 91·9 %) | Yes (n 206; 8·1 %) | No (n 2077; 80·9 %) | Yes (n 487; 19·1 %) | No (n 2182; 85·0 %) | Yes (n 382; 15·0 %) | ||
| n | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Recommended option | ||||||||
| Pasta | 226 | 8·9 | 8·8 | 9·5 | 9·2 | 7·5 | 8·7 | 9·9 |
| Cheese | 1682 | 65·9 | 65·6 | 68·6 | 65·7 | 66·3 | 66·8 | 60·6* |
| Rice | 362 | 14·2 | 14·2 | 13·2 | 14·5 | 12·9 | 14·7 | 11·3* |
| Bread | 1991 | 78·0 | 78·8 | 68·4* | 78·1 | 77·5 | 79·4 | 69·7* |
| Milk | 2013 | 78·9 | 79·9 | 67·7* | 79·5 | 76·1 | 81·1 | 65·7* |
| Chicken | 2182 | 85·5 | 85·8 | 81·3 | 85·3 | 86·1 | 86·9 | 77·1* |
| Tinned fish | 1817 | 73·4 | 74·0 | 67·2* | 74·4 | 69·3* | 75·0 | 64·5* |
| Fruit | ||||||||
| 0–8 types | 257 | 12·5 | 12·0 | 18·3 | 12·7 | 11·4 | 11·4 | 19·2 |
| 9–11 types | 300 | 14·6 | 14·5 | 16·3 | 14·5 | 15·0 | 14·4 | 16·0 |
| 12–14 types | 419 | 20·4 | 20·0 | 24·7 | 19·5 | 25·1 | 20·0 | 23·1 |
| ≥15 types | 1077 | 52·5 | 53·5 | 40·7* | 53·3 | 48·4 | 54·2 | 41·7* |
| Vegetables | ||||||||
| 0–13 types | 232 | 10·8 | 10·5 | 14·1 | 11·0 | 9·6 | 10·3 | 13·6 |
| 14–16 types | 375 | 17·4 | 16·8 | 24·4 | 17·5 | 16·8 | 17·5 | 17·1 |
| 17–19 types | 551 | 25·6 | 26·0 | 19·5 | 25·7 | 24·9 | 25·3 | 27·3 |
| ≥20 types | 997 | 46·3 | 46·6 | 42·0* | 45·8 | 48·6 | 46·9 | 42·0 |
| Chain fast foods | ||||||||
| Never | 1336 | 52·1 | 53·1 | 41·1 | 52·5 | 50·8 | 52·4 | 50·6 |
| Monthly | 900 | 35·1 | 34·9 | 34·1 | 35·2 | 33·2 | 34·9 | 34·4 |
| Weekly | 328 | 12·8 | 12·0 | 24·8 | 12·3 | 16·0 | 12·7 | 15·0 |
| Non-chain fast foods | ||||||||
| Never | 860 | 33·5 | 33·9 | 28·9 | 32·6 | 37·3 | 32·5 | 39·4 |
| Monthly | 1415 | 55·2 | 55·4 | 54·1 | 56·5 | 49·8 | 56·9 | 46·1 |
| Weekly | 289 | 11·3 | 10·7 | 17·0 | 10·8 | 12·9 | 10·7 | 14·4 |
*Indicates a significant difference compared with the ‘no’ group at the 0·05 level, value determined by Pearson's χ 2 test.
†‘In the last 12 months, were there times that you ran out of food and could not afford to buy more?’
‡‘Does your health limit the lifting or carrying of groceries?’
§‘Do you always have access to a car to do your food shopping?’