Description:
This indicator measures the percentage of people who were concerned about running out of food due to a lack of money or other resources in the past 12 months.
Source of Data:
The data for this indicator is drawn from a section of the Scottish Health Survey. The questions are drawn from the eight-question Food Insecurity Experience Scale (developed by the UN).
Information on the Scottish Health Survey can be found on the Scottish Government website. Detailed tables relating to food security can be found here.
Definitions:
The question the indicator is based on is:
"During the last 12 months, was there a time when: You were worried you would run out of food because of a lack of money or other resources?"
Criteria for Change:
This evaluation is based on: An annual change in the percentage of people who were concerned about running out of food which is significant at the 95% confidence limit.
Future issues or reviews:
Questions on food insecurity were added to the UK-wide Family Resources Survey (FRS) for the 2019/20 questionnaire. Three-year average results are published in the Poverty in Scotland report.
Currently the SHeS has a larger annual sample than the FRS and provides stability in the series back to 2017. As the food security questions have been included on the SHeS for 2023 and 2024 it makes sense to continue using this data. We will make an assessment next year whether switching to the FRS will be appropriate, taking into account whether the SeHS will continue to ask the food security question.
The Scottish Health Survey did not ask questions on food insecurity in 2022 but did so for 2023 and 2024. Results for 2023 will be available in spring 2025.