A Meta-Ethnography to Determine Critical Constructs of Nutrition Security

This meta-ethnography aimed to examine and thematically analyze relevant qualitative studies to create a nutrition security conceptual framework.

Following the 7-step process for a meta-ethnography, we screened 6,831 studies and included eligible papers relating to nutrition security.

US-based studies.

2,709 participants in 58 qualitative papers reviewed.

Nutrition security.

Not applicable.

Two researchers independently read and extracted data from each paper. This information was then combined, and 2 investigators generated themes to determine critical constructs of nutrition security. Constructs were then combined into a conceptual model.

The final conceptual framework includes 2 primary constructs (environmental circumstances and psychosocial functioning), 16 secondary constructs, and 51 tertiary constructs of nutrition security.

This is the first meta-ethnography to focus on concepts related to nutrition security rather than food security. There is an overlap between our findings and the existing framework for food security, including the 6 pillars of food security and the 5 domains of food access. An improved understanding of nutrition security and the proposed conceptual framework established will help guide the development of improved nutrition security measures and interventions to improve diet quality and overall health.