Food insecurity and health outcome nexus: empirical evidence from the informal sector enterprises in Bangladesh

Food insecurity and health outcome nexus:
empirical evidence from the informal sector enterprises in Bangladesh

Background: Food insecurity indicates the difficulty of constantly obtaining adequate food because of limited economic resources. Food insecurity challenges the desired health outcomes. Although extensive literature has examined the associations between food security and health, low-wage informal sector workers have been less frequently
addressed in this topic. The present study has focused on food insecurity among the workers working in the informal sector enterprises who experienced entrenched disadvantage during COVID-19 and examines the relationship
between food insecurity and health status as measured by self-reported physical and mental health conditions.
Methods: This study has utilized cross-sectional data collected from workers working in informal manufacturing and
business enterprises in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) with eight items is used
to screen for food insecurity, and the Short Form 12v2 (SF12v2) scale with 12 questions, and validated for use with
Bengali respondents, is used to measure the health status of the informal workers. A health production function has
been constructed where the health status (both physical and mental) of workers is associated with food insecurity
and other socio-economic and health care factors. Empirical analyses of the study have included descriptive statistics,
mean score comparisons, and multivariate regression analyses to identify the predictive factors of the physical and
mental health status of the workers.
Results: A moderate to severe food insecurity is found to be responsible for the poor health status (both physical and
mental) of the selected working group population. Moreover, age over 40 years, having a large family, dissatisfaction
with the work place, and the prevalence of occupational health risks are linked to lower physical health, while dissatisfaction with the work place and the incidence of severe diseases contribute to poor mental health status along with food insecurity.
Conclusions: Extending social and economic protection towards health coverage and basic consumption is suggested as an immediate action to save lives and ensure productivity of the informal workers. Besides, an increase in
income and ensuring decent working conditions are also recommended for the health, safety and satisfaction of
workers working in informal sector enterprises.