Socio-economic and demographic aspects of food security and nutrition

In OECD countries, socio-economically disadvantaged groups tend to consume less nutritious food, leading to suboptimal health outcomes, including obesity. Contributing factors include low levels of income and education; time-poor single parent households; and the prevalence and accessibility of fast food restaurants. More broadly, food insecurity also remains a problem in OECD countries, with Indigenous Peoples being particularly vulnerable. Foodbanks run by non-governmental organisations provide emergency food assistance, sometimes using food recovered as part of food waste policies; however, the sustainability of this approach is contested. Understanding the role that socio-economic and demographic factors play in determining household food purchases and consumption is limited by inadequate and irregular food data collection, including on the prevalence of food insecurity. Lack of data is also hampering evaluation of the effectiveness of policies in addressing the needs of particular socio-economic and demographic groups.