Journal ArticleNo Access

FOOD INSECURITY AMONG LOW-INCOME OLDER PERSONS IN HONG KONG: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL SERVICES, AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Search for more papers by this author

and

BO KYONG SEO

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9250-5844

Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

E-mail Address: grace.seo@polyu.edu.hk

Corresponding author.

Search for more papers by this author

https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219246223500012Cited by:0 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

Food is one of the physiological needs that have an immediate impact on healthy aging. However, the persistent poverty problem in Hong Kong has increasingly made it difficult for low-income older persons to meet their basic needs. This paper examines to what extent poor older persons suffer from food insecurity and how their food insecurity is related to the different types of resources they have. Based on the data collected through a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, the study found that about 20% of low-income older persons experienced food insecurity, and male, older seniors, and those in a larger household with lower socio-economic status were particularly vulnerable. Among the resources that older people can utilize, public assistance and social services were found to be more conducive to food security than social capital. The implementation of a food voucher scheme and the facilitation of food distribution and social eating are suggested.

Keywords:

References

Almalki, S. (2016). Integrating quantitative and qualitative data in mixed methods research– Challenges and benefits. Journal of Education and Learning, 5(3), 288–296. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n3p288. Crossref, Google Scholar
Arranhado, S. G. (2021). Food insecurity in older adults: Much more than food — understanding it before taking action. MOJ Gerontology & Geriatrics, 6(2), 32–36. https://doi.org/10.15406/mojgg.2021.06.00264. Crossref, Google Scholar
Census and Statistics Department. (2018). Hong Kong 2016 population by-census — Thematic report: Older persons. https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/data/stat_report/product/B1120105/att/B11201052016XXXXB0100.pdf. Google Scholar
Census and Statistics Department. (2020). Usage of information technology and the Internet by Hong Kong residents, 2000 to 2019. https://www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B72010FA2020XXXXB0100.pdf. Google Scholar
Census and Statistics Department. (2021). Hong Kong poverty situation report 2020. https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/data/stat_report/product/B9XX0005/att/B9XX0005E2020AN20E0100.pdf. Google Scholar
Centre for Food Safety. (2021). Report of the second Hong Kong population-based food consumption survey. https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_firm/files/2nd_FCS_Report_29_Jun_2021.pdf. Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundation of social theory. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/2579680. Google Scholar
Drammeh, W., Hamid, N. M., & Jalil, R. (2019). Determinants of household food insecurity and its association with child malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review of the literature. Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science Journal, 7(3), 610–623. https://doi.org/10.12944/CRNFSJ.7.3.02. Crossref, Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B. (2019). Pension reforms and old age inequalities in Europe: From old to new social risks? [Conference presentation]. The 14th European Sociological Association Conference 2019: University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335228524_Pension_reforms_and_old_age_inequalities_in_Europe_From_old_to_new_social_risks. Google Scholar
Economic Research Services. (2012). U.S. adult food security survey module. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/8279/ad2012.pdf. Google Scholar
Fernandes, S. G., Rodrigues, A. M., Nunes, C., Santos, O., Gregório, M. J., de Sousa, R. D., Dias, S., & Canhão, H. (2018). Food insecurity in older adults: Results from the epidemiology of chronic diseases cohort study 3. Frontiers in Medicine, 5, Article 203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2018.00203. Crossref, Google Scholar
Food Banks Canada. (n.d.). Introduction of the services in Food Banks Canada. https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/Our-Work.aspx. Google Scholar
Food Grace. (n.d.). Food Grace background. http://www.foodgrace.com/zh-hk/background.html. Google Scholar
Frongillo, E. A., Nguyen, H. T., Smith, M. D., & Jensen, A. C. (2017). Food insecurity is associated with subjective well-being among individuals from 138 countries in the 2014 Gallup World Poll. The Journal of Nutrition, 147(4), 680–687. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.116.243642. Crossref, Google Scholar
Grafton, H. H. (2019). Hunger is a health issue for older adults: Food security, health, and the federal nutrition programs. Food Research & Action Center. https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/hunger-is-a-health-issue-for-older-adults-1.pdf. Google Scholar
Godrich, S., Loewen, O., Blanchet, R., Willows, N., & Veugelers, P. (2019). Canadian children from food insecure households experience low self-esteem and self-efficacy for healthy lifestyle choices. Nutrients, 11(3), Article 675. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11030675. Crossref, Google Scholar
Gulliford, M. C., Mahabir, D., & Rocke, B. (2003). Food insecurity, food choices, and body mass index in adults: Nutrition transition in Trinidad and Tobago. International Journal of Epidemiology, 32(4), 508–516. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyg100. Crossref, Google Scholar
Hayes, T. O. (2021). Food insecurity and food insufficiency: Assessing causes and historical trends [Online forum post]. American Action Forum. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/food-insecurity-and-food-insufficiency-assessing-causes-and-historical-trends/. Google Scholar
Hong Kong Red Cross. (2021). Introduction of the Savour Together Scheme. https://www.redcross.org.hk/tc/fv2.html. Google Scholar
Jackson, J. A., Branscum, A., Tang, A., & Smit, E. (2019). Food insecurity and physical functioning limitations among older U.S. adults. Preventive Medicine Reports, 14, Article 100829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100829. Crossref, Google Scholar
Mahadevan, R., & Hoang, V. (2016). Is there a link between poverty and food security? Social Indicators Research, 128, 179–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1025-3. Crossref, Google Scholar
Martin, K. S., Rogers, B. L., Cook, J. T., & Joseph, H. M. (2004). Social capital is associated with decreased risk of hunger. Social Science & Medicine, 58(12), 2645–2654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.09.026. Crossref, Google Scholar
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346. Crossref, Google Scholar
Nosratabadi, S., Khazami, N., Ben, A. M., Lackner, Z., Band, S. S., Mosavi, A., & Csaba, M. (2020). Social capital contributions to food security: A comprehensive literature review. Foods, 9(11), Article 1650. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111650. Crossref, Google Scholar
Oxfam Hong Kong. (2022). [Study on poverty and employment among the elderly]. https://www.oxfam.org.hk/tc/f/news_and_publication/81345/143781/Oxfam%20Hong%20Kong%20-%20Elderly%20Report%202022.pdf. Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revised of American community [Conference presentation]. The 2000 ACM Conference on Computer supported Cooperative Work, Philadelphia, PA, United States. https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990. Google Scholar
Rizvi, A., Wasfi, R., Enns, A., & Kristjansson, E. (2021). The impact of novel and traditional food bank approaches on food insecurity: A longitudinal study in Ottawa, Canada. BMC Public Health, 21, Article 771. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10841-6. Google Scholar
Shorten, A., & Smith, J. (2017). Mixed methods research: Expanding the evidence base. Evidence-Based Nursing, 20(3), 74–75. https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2017-102699. Crossref, Google Scholar
Siddiqui, F., Salam, R. A., Lassi, Z. S., & Das, J. K. (2020). The intertwined relationship between malnutrition and poverty. Front Public Health, 8, Article 453. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00453. Crossref, Google Scholar
Social Welfare Department. (2021). Revision of payment rates under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and the Social Security Allowance (SSA) Schemes and implementing improvement measures to the CSSA Scheme. https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew/year_6014/. Google Scholar
Social Welfare Department. (n.d.). Introduction of the Old Age Living Allowance and the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. https://www.swd.gov.hk/oala/index_e.html. Google Scholar
Tarasuk, V., Dachner, N., Hamelin, A. M., Ostry, A., Williams, P., Bosckei, E., Poland, B., & Raine, K. (2014). A survey of food bank operations in five Canadian cities. BMC Public Health, 14, Article 1234. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1234. Crossref, Google Scholar
Temple, J. B., Booth, S., & Pollard, C. M. (2019). Social assistance payments and food insecurity in Australia: Evidence from the household expenditure survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3), Article 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030455. Crossref, Google Scholar
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Hunger and food insecurity. https://www.fao.org/hunger/en/. Google Scholar
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service. (2012). [Study on deprivation and social exclusion in Hong Kong]. https://www.poverty.org.hk/sites/default/files/ClientStudyReportRevised120607_final.pdf. Google Scholar
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service. (2014). [Population ageing and poverty]. http://www.pension.org.hk/%E7%8F%BE%E5%AD%98%E5%8D%B1%E6%A9%9F/%E4%BA%BA%E5%8F%A3%E9%AB%98%E9%BD%A1%E5%8C%96%E8%88%87%E8%B2%A7%E7%AA%AE%E5%8C%96. Google Scholar
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service. (2017). [Study on the living conditions of food assistance service users in Hong Kong]. https://www.hkcss.org.hk/upload/pra/%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E9%A3%9F%E7%89%A9%E6%8F%B4%E5%8A%A9%E6%9C%8D%E5%8B%99%E4%BD%BF%E7%94%A8%E8%80%85%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E7%8B%80%E6%B3%81%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6_2017.pdf. Google Scholar
The Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association. (2021). Research on retirement protection and related services in Hong Kong. https://hkrsa.org.hk/image/catalog/PDF/Report-EN_v2_FINAL_LR.pdf. Google Scholar
Theron, W. O., & Egal, A. A. (2021). Is food insecurity a problem among the elderly in Sharpeville, South Africa? Food Security, 13, 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01125-9. Crossref, Google Scholar
The World Health Organization. (2020). Healthy diet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet. Google Scholar
U.N. Human Rights. (n.d.). United Nations questionnaire on social protection of older persons addressed to governments by the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/EPoverty/older/Australia.pdf. Google Scholar
Wong, Y. C. (2018). [Optimizing the poverty alleviation effectiveness of the social security system for the elderly]. https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs51/papers/hs5120180129cb2-758-2-c.pdf. Google Scholar
World Bank. (n.d.). Social capital in poverty reduction and economic development. https://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01360/WEB/0__CO-83.HTM. Google Scholar