Table 1.
Descriptive statistics for individual factors and their association with food insecurity levels
| INDIVIDUAL FACTORS | All (n = 326) |
No/mild (n = 77) | Moderate (n = 152) | Severe (n = 97) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | ||||||
| Demographic factors | ||||||
|
Age of adolescents (Mean ± SD: 14.5 ± 1.8) |
Early adolescence (12–14 years) | 168 (51.5) | 35 (45.5) | 72 (47.4) | 61 (62.9) | 0.027 |
| Late adolescence (15–18 years) | 158 (48.5) | 42 (54.5) | 80 (52.6) | 36 (37.1) | ||
| Adolescent sex | Female | 203 (62.3) | 39 (50.6) | 103 (67.8) | 61 (62.9) | 0.041 |
| Male | 123 (37.7) | 38 (49.4) | 49 (32.2) | 36 (37.1) | ||
| Education level | None/some primary(1–5) | 161 (49.4) | 39 (50.6) | 61 (40.1) | 61 (62.9) | 0.002 |
| Some secondary (6–12) | 165 (50.6) | 38 (49.4) | 91 (59.9) | 36 (37.1) | ||
| School enrollment | Enrolled | 286 (87.7) | 63 (81.8) | 139 (91.4) | 84 (86.6) | 0.102 |
| Not enrolled | 40 (12.3) | 14 (18.2) | 13 (8.6) | 13 (13.4) | ||
| Adolescent work status | Not working | 290 (92.6) | 64 (81.8) | 144 (94.7) | 94 (96.9) | 0.001 |
| Working | 23 (7.4) | 14 (18.2) | 8 (5.3) | 3 (3.1) | ||
| COVID19 infection | No | 303 (92.6) | 72 (97.4) | 145 (95.4) | 86 (88.7) | 0.126 |
| history | Yes | 23 (7.1) | 5 (6.5) | 7 (4.6) | 11 (11.3) | |
| Coping strategy factors | ||||||
| Stopped school due to lack of food/money | No | 260 (79.8) | 67 (87.0) | 132 (86.8) | 61 (62.9) | < 0.001 |
| Yes | 66 (20.2) | 10 (13.0) | 20 (13.2) | 36 (37.1) | ||
| Food seeking | 1st tertile (0–4) | 108 (33.1) | 35 (45.5) | 60 (39.5) | 13 (13.4) | < 0.001 |
| strategies | 2nd tertile (5–6) | 138 (42.3) | 24 (31.2) | 67 (44.1) | 47 (48.5) | |
| 3rd tertile (6–14) | 80 (24.6) | 18 (23.3) | 25 (16.4) | 37 (38.1) | ||
| Smoking cigarettes last month | Yes | 20 (6.1) | 5 (6.5) | 6 (3.9) | 9 (9.3) | 0.229 |
| No | 306 (93.9) | 72 (93.5) | 146 (96.1) | 88 (90.7) | ||
| Marijuana last month | Yes | 32 (9.8) | 10 (13.0) | 13 (8.6) | 9 (9.3) | 0.554 |
| No | 294 (90.2) | 67 (87.0) | 139 (91.4) | 88 (90.7) | ||
| No.of substance | Two or more | 7 (2.1) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.3) | 5 (5.1) | 0.033 |
| used last month | At least one | 41 (12.6) | 15 (19.5) | 17 (11.2) | 9 (9.3) | |
|
(Mean ± SD: 0.16 ± 0.409) |
None | 278 (85.3) | 62 (80.5) | 133 (87.5) | 83 (85.6) | |
Abbreviations: SD – Standard deviation