Description of variables used in the analysis
| Variable name | Description | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate or severe food insecurity | Binary variable: a household is moderately or severely food insecure if the sum of the affirmative responses is equal to or above the moderate or severe FIES-GSS threshold (i.e. 4, see Section 3.2) | Logistic Rasch measurement model; see Section 2.1 |
| Severe food insecurity | Binary variable: a household is severely food insecure if the sum of the affirmative responses is equal to or above the severe FIES-GSS threshold (i.e. 7, See Section 3.2) | Logistic Rasch measurement model; see Section 2.1 |
| Food insecurity score | The probability of a household being food insecure | Equation (3), see Section 2.3 |
| Region | Emirati of the household’s residence | Four dummies (Reference: Dubai): 1 = Abu Dhabi, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Sharjah, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Ajman, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah, 0 = Otherwise |
| Age | Age of the household head in years | Years |
| Education | Education level of the household head | Three categories: 1 = Primary sch., 2 = High sch., 3 = Higher education |
| Number of adults | Number of adults (15–59 years old) in the household | Number |
| Number of children | Number of children in the household (≤14 years old) | Number |
| Number of elderlies | Number of elderlies in the household (≥60 years old) | Number |
| Food purchasing place | Commonly used purchasing food place | Three categories: 1 = Supermarket; 2 = Open market, 3 = Other markets |
| Income | Annual joint household income in AED | 5-point scale: 1 = <50,000 to 7 = >500,000 AED |
| Expenditure | Percentage of household income spent on food | 7-point scale: 1 = <5% to 7 = >55% |
| Expat | Whether a respondent is expat or not | 1 = Expat; 0 = Emirati |
| Main source of livelihood | Main source of livelihood or employment of the household | Four dummies (Reference: Private sector employment): 1 = Public sector, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Own business, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Daily labour, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Agriculture, 0 = Otherwise |
| COVID-19- related variables | ||
| Financial access | The extent to which the pandemic adversely affected household’s ability to earn/get money or other resources for acquiring food | 7-point scale: 1 = did not affect at all to 7 = Strongly affected |
| Physical access | The mobility restrictions, lockdowns or any other measure implemented by authorities negatively affected household’s physical access to food | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Job loss | Whether a household member lost his/her job involuntarily due to the pandemic or not | 1 = Yes, 0 = No |
| Food price increase | Increase in the price of household’s usual food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Exposed to unsafe food | Households were forced to increased risk of consumption of unsafe food due to reduced access to their usual/traditional food suppliers/outlets | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Increase domestic violence | A household experienced increased domestic violence and/or increased tension | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Risk of COVID-19 exposure | The adopted coping strategies to satisfy the household’s food requirements increased the risk of exposure to COVID-19 | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Coping strategies to COVID-induced food insecurity | ||
| Ate cheaper food | Households were forced to shift to cheaper food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Reduced diet diversity | Households reduced their diet diversity (i.e. forced to eat fewer food items compared to their usual consumption basket) due to the pandemic | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Ate less nutritious food | Households forced to eat fewer and/or less nutritious food items, compared to their usual consumption of nutritious food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Ate less-preferred food | COVID-19 forced the household to eat less-preferred food | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Spent savings on food | COVID-19 forced the household to spend savings on food | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Borrowed food/money from friends/relatives | COVID-19 forced households to borrow food/money from friends and relatives | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Sold household assets | COVID-19 forced the household to sell household assets such as animals, furniture, jewellery, vehicles | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Variable name | Description | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate or severe food insecurity | Binary variable: a household is moderately or severely food insecure if the sum of the affirmative responses is equal to or above the moderate or severe FIES-GSS threshold (i.e. 4, see | Logistic Rasch measurement model; see |
| Severe food insecurity | Binary variable: a household is severely food insecure if the sum of the affirmative responses is equal to or above the severe FIES-GSS threshold (i.e. 7, See | Logistic Rasch measurement model; see |
| Food insecurity score | The probability of a household being food insecure | |
| Region | Emirati of the household’s residence | Four dummies (Reference: Dubai): 1 = Abu Dhabi, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Sharjah, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Ajman, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah, 0 = Otherwise |
| Age | Age of the household head in years | Years |
| Education | Education level of the household head | Three categories: 1 = Primary sch., 2 = High sch., 3 = Higher education |
| Number of adults | Number of adults (15–59 years old) in the household | Number |
| Number of children | Number of children in the household (≤14 years old) | Number |
| Number of elderlies | Number of elderlies in the household (≥60 years old) | Number |
| Food purchasing place | Commonly used purchasing food place | Three categories: 1 = Supermarket; 2 = Open market, 3 = Other markets |
| Income | Annual joint household income in AED | 5-point scale: 1 = <50,000 to 7 = >500,000 AED |
| Expenditure | Percentage of household income spent on food | 7-point scale: 1 = <5% to 7 = >55% |
| Expat | Whether a respondent is expat or not | 1 = Expat; 0 = Emirati |
| Main source of livelihood | Main source of livelihood or employment of the household | Four dummies (Reference: Private sector employment): 1 = Public sector, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Own business, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Daily labour, 0 = Otherwise; 1 = Agriculture, 0 = Otherwise |
| Financial access | The extent to which the pandemic adversely affected household’s ability to earn/get money or other resources for acquiring food | 7-point scale: 1 = did not affect at all to 7 = Strongly affected |
| Physical access | The mobility restrictions, lockdowns or any other measure implemented by authorities negatively affected household’s physical access to food | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Job loss | Whether a household member lost his/her job involuntarily due to the pandemic or not | 1 = Yes, 0 = No |
| Food price increase | Increase in the price of household’s usual food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Exposed to unsafe food | Households were forced to increased risk of consumption of unsafe food due to reduced access to their usual/traditional food suppliers/outlets | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Increase domestic violence | A household experienced increased domestic violence and/or increased tension | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Risk of COVID-19 exposure | The adopted coping strategies to satisfy the household’s food requirements increased the risk of exposure to COVID-19 | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Ate cheaper food | Households were forced to shift to cheaper food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Reduced diet diversity | Households reduced their diet diversity (i.e. forced to eat fewer food items compared to their usual consumption basket) due to the pandemic | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Ate less nutritious food | Households forced to eat fewer and/or less nutritious food items, compared to their usual consumption of nutritious food items | 7-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree |
| Ate less-preferred food | COVID-19 forced the household to eat less-preferred food | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Spent savings on food | COVID-19 forced the household to spend savings on food | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Borrowed food/money from friends/relatives | COVID-19 forced households to borrow food/money from friends and relatives | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
| Sold household assets | COVID-19 forced the household to sell household assets such as animals, furniture, jewellery, vehicles | 1 = Yes; 0 = No |
Source(s): Authors' work