International evidence has shown that sex and race play an important role in the risk for food insecurity, resulting in higher prevalence of diet-related diseases. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between dietary markers of Brazilian households and their four-level food security status.
The nutrition-focused Brazilian House Budget Survey 2017–2018 was used. Dietary markers were meal occasion and locations; energy food sources; and diet quality components and total score. Descriptive statistics and regressions were used to determine associations between diet markers, sex and race.
Energy contribution of foods was higher among food-insecure vs secure households. Rice, beans and yeast breads remain the top sources of consumption. Severely food-insecure females and non-whites scored lower for diet quality as compared to others in food-insecure thresholds. Fruits and vegetables (FVs) were significantly lower in marginal (ß = −1.72; 95%CI −2.76, −0.67 and ß = −1.42; 95%CI −2.33, −0.51), moderate (ß = −2.69; 95%CI −4.47, −0.91 and ß = −2.38, 95%CI −3.97, −0.79) and severe (ß = −3.23; 95%CI −5.09, −1.37 and ß = −2.51, 95%CI −0.4.25, −0.77) food insecurity females and non-white as compared to those in food security status.
Food insecurity households had higher energy contribution, which might result in their lower consumption of FV. Studies should focus on social assistance, family and child benefits and income tax thresholds, suggesting that policies support an adequate and secure income to reduce the severity of food insecurity.
