EHE News
Melgar-Quinonez works worldwide to determine danger of hunger
Hugo Melgar-Quinonez
Hunger is a reality for millions of families across the globe. And it seems that food insecurity is growing. But no one really knows how many people are in danger of being undernourished.
Nutritionist Hugo Melgar-Quinonez is working to develop a reliable measurement tool that will give government agencies worldwide exact numbers about how households experience food insecurity and hunger. With the data, countries can pinpoint the causes and consequences, and then establish policies to stave off food insecurity.
Melgar-Quinonez traveled to Rome in March 2010 on an invitation from the United Nations to discuss his research with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. FAO has awarded the associate professor of human nutrition $10,000 to review the use of the Spanish-language Latin America and Caribbean Household Food Security Scale and similar tools.
He has looked at its use in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. In addition, he is interested in whether food security scales could be used in China, India, Kenya, and the Philippines.
"We will talk about the psychometric characteristics of the food insecurity scales. Are they reliable? Do they measure hunger well, and define it in the same way?" Melgar-Quinonez said.
The consequences can be enormous. If a measurement tool works in Brazil, where levels of food insecurity are at 35 percent of the population, will it work in Mexico, where 52 percent of families are confronting the same problem?
The FAO project will help Melgar-Quinonez develop a proposal to do a full study in Central America.
In U.S., poor eating can lead to obesity
The project has implications for the United States, too. A U.S. Department of Agriculture survey using a similar Household Food Insecurity Scale in 2008 found that 14.6 percent of families are food insecure. That was an increase of 3.5 percent over 2007 levels.
"Food insecurity is sensitive to the economic burdens people face," said Melgar-Quinonez, who also is a state specialist for The Ohio State University Extension and researcher at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.
In addition, he noted, "There are different levels of food insecurity. Not all families are starving. Severe food insecurity leads to undernourishment, but mild and moderate food insecurity can actually lead to being overweight."
He explains that carbohydrates are cheaper and poor families often cannot buy fruit and vegetables necessary for a balanced diet. In addition, as fast food becomes available even in countries far from the U.S., families move away from healthier traditional diets.
In his work with Latino families in Ohio, Melgar-Quinonez has found this pattern follows as immigrants enter the U.S. Unlike past generations, families already are familiar with fast food or have moved to non-traditional diets. Preliminary research at Ohio State is looking at the association between food insecurity and obesity among food stamp recipients.
Sesame Street to lighten children's weight
Another aspect is childhood obesity rates, which have tripled in the past 30 years. Melgar-Quinonez is advising "Healthy Habits for Life", an education outreach effort to help low-income families with children between 2 and 5 years old. The new project from Sesame Workshop in partnership with AmeriChoice will create materials in English and Spanish to explain food choices can be affordable, nutritional and set the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.
At a time when food insecurity is a major public health and nutrition issue in both developing countries and the U.S., Melgar-Quinonez's scholarship is contributing to fight hunger worldwide.
© 2011 The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology. All Rights Reserved.
If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact the webmaster.