Household food security in urban Tamil Nadu: a survey in Vellore

Food security has been a matter of concern in recent years due to the global food crisis and rising food prices. We aimed to study the level of food security in a densely populated urban area in southern India.

A door-to-door survey of 130 households in an urban area in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu was done and information on food security status was collected using the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Scale, on socioeconomic status using the modified Kuppuswamy scale and demographic details.

Of the 130 households surveyed, food insecurity with hunger was present in 61.5% (95% CI 52.98%-70.02%), food insecurity without hunger in 13.1% (95% CI 7.2%-19%) and food security in 25.4% (95% CI 17.8%-33%) of the households. Prevalence of any form of food insecurity was present in three-fourths of the households (74.6%; 95% CI 67%-82.2%). Only 76 (58.5%) households used the public distribution system for buying rice-the staple food, and 63 (82.9%) households in the lower socioeconomic strata used the public distribution system for buying rice.

Despite good penetration of the public distribution system in Tamil Nadu, the prevalence of food insecurity in urban areas is high. Nationwide and regional urban-rural food security data need to be studied to influence policy regarding the means to reduce food insecurity in India.