Households' Food Insecurity and Its Association with Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors in Gaza Strip, Palestine: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: This sudy aimed to identify the prevalence of household's food insecurity and its association with demographic and socioeconomic factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2021 among a representative sample of households in the Gaza strip governorates. A total of 1167 households randomly selected from all five governorates and were included in the study. The Radimer/Cornell food security scale was used to determine the prevalence and levels of household food insecurity. The household's demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were obtained using an interview-based questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of household's food insecurity was 71.5%. The prevalence by governorates was highest in Gaza (30.8%), followed by Khanyounis (23.0%), North-Gaza (18.6%), Middle-Area (15.2%) and Rafah (12.4%). Regarding the food insecurity levels, 333 (28.5%) of the households were food secure, 422 (36.2%) had mild food insecurity, 161 (13.8%) had moderate food insecurity, and 251 (21.5%) had severe food insecurity. Significant associations were found between governorates, monthly income, homeownership, work status with the household's food insecurity, (Crude OR [COR] = 2.02, 95% CI = [1.02-3.98], P value < 0.05), (COR = 2.00, 95% CI = [1.04-2.75], P value < 0.05), (COR = 2.36, 95% CI = [1.39-3.99], P value < 0.05), and (COR = 1.14, 95% CI = [0.66-1.97], P value < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that food insecurity is highly prevalent in the Gaza strip and is associated with poor living conditions. Therefore, this high prevalence should be seriously discussed and urgently considered.