Brazil has 20.6 million people in severe (8.6 million) or moderate (11.9 million) food insecurity. The data is part of the Pnad (National Household Sample Survey) Continuous Food Security 2023, released today by IBGE.
Homes with children and teenagers suffer most. While 37% of households with children aged 0 to 4 have some degree of food insecurity, the percentage drops as the age of residents increases, reaching 21% among those with residents aged 65 or over.
Children and teenagers generate expenses and no income. “They need clothes and shoes and eat more because of their high metabolism”, says Maria Paula de Albuquerque, pediatrician and nutritionist at Cren (Center for Recovery and Nutritional Education).
Among the elderly, retirement is often the main source of income for entire families to have access to food.
Maria Paula de Albuquerque, pediatrician and nutritionist
“It only had noodles and sausage”
Without money, the mother fed her five children ultra-processed foods. Beatriz Monteiro dos Santos, 32, went to work in a scrapyard when she moved from Bahia to São Paulo, in 2018. Living with her husband and five children in a room provided by an uncle, the money she received at the time only bought ultra-processed foods, cheaper and with low nutritional value.
Tags: Food insecurity greater homes children
