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Food security and food systems

Call for Papers

New Content ItemCurrent estimates show that nearly 690 million people are hungry. Sustainable development goal 2 (SDG2) seeks sustainable solutions to end hunger in all its forms by 2030 and to achieve food security. The COVID-19 pandemic has had major adverse effects on the food and agricultural sector and, if current trends continue, the end of 2020 could see an additional 130 million people at risk of suffering acute hunger. In support of SDG2 and in preparation of the UN Food System Summit taking place in September 2021 and its aspirations, BMC Public Health has launched this collection which welcomes submissions that contribute to our understanding towards achieving the provision of access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to all people.

We call upon aNew Content Itemuthors to consider how we can change the ways in which food systems operate and encourage submissions including but not limited to those which: 

• Provide strategies for the implementation of new policies and practices in relation to the condition of food and nutritional security

• Understand the challenges of achieving food security globally

• Understand the factors that obstruct access to healthy diets

• Assess the health implications of food insecurity

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process overseen by our Guest Editors, Prof Sheryl Hendriks (University of Pretoria), Dr Hirotsugu Aiga (Nagasaki University) and Dr Tarra Penney (York University).

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for BMC Public Health.

Data sets and descriptions relevant to the collection will be considered in BMC Research Notes as Data Notes. You can find out more about this article type here. This type of content will be published in BMC Research Notes and included in the final collection.

Articles submitted after 15th October 2022 will be not eligible for inclusion in the collection.

Meet the Guest Editors

Sheryl L Hendriks

New Content ItemSheryl L Hendriks is Professor and Head of the University of Pretoria’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. She is a food security policy expert with extensive experience in policy analysis and programme design. Her research and teaching focuses on food security and nutrition policy analysis and monitoring and evaluation of food security at the household, national and global information system level. She is actively engaged in high-level global food security policy think tanks and panels. She is a member of the Montpellier Malabo Panel and the Scientific Group for the 2021 World Food Systems Summit. Contact here

Hirotsugu Aiga

New Content ItemHirotsugu Aiga is a Professor at the School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Japan. Over three decades, he has been committed to addressing global health issues in both development and emergency settings at the World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP), International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). His research interests include food security and nutrition, health system strengthening, neglected tropical diseases, and humanitarian emergency. Contact here

Tarra L Penney

New Content ItemTarra L Penney, PhD is an assistant professor of global food, systems and policy in the School of Global Health, an investigator with the Global Strategy Lab, a member of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University and previously a research associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, UK. She has worked with national and international organisations in the area of food system transition including Cambridge Global Food Security, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Cambridge, the Global Food Security Programme in London, UK and the WHO European office.

Dr Penney’s program of research focuses on examining the impact of globalization on human and planetary health through studying the complex consequences of national policies implemented within political, social and commercial systems.  She uses systems thinking and draws on multiple methods from epidemiology, social and political science to evaluate national policy and explore opportunities within the commercial sector to transition toward healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems and the prevention of both communicable and non-communicable disease. Contact here

  1. Food insecurity is a public health issue for many regions globally, and especially Indigenous communities. We propose food budget ratio (FBR)—the ratio of food spending to after-tax income—as an affordability ...

    Authors: Jennifer Guan and Jeremy C.-H. Wang
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:289
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  2. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly one in five adults in Canada worried about having enough food to meet their household’s needs. Relatedly, throughout the pandemic, public messaging repeatedly urged Canad...

    Authors: Zachary Daly, Jennifer Black, Corey McAuliffe and Emily Jenkins
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:1723
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic severely affected global food security, but analyses of its impact on the cost and affordability of a healthy diet are limited. This study examines the immediat...

    Authors: Mercy Mwambi, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Suwanna Praneetvatakul and Jody Harris
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:1398
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. Over the past decade, the prevalence of food insecurity declined in the United States but curiously climbed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a sizable metropolitan area where many households experience food inse...

    Authors: Kai Inguito, Brandon Joa, James Gardner, Eric N. Fung, Laura Layer and Karen Fritz
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:1323
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  5. University students are often affected by food insecurity (FI) and this situation has been associated with low consumption of fruit/vegetables and high intake of added sugars and sweet drinks. However, there n...

    Authors: Alejandra Betancourt-Núñez, Pablo Alejandro Nava-Amante, María Fernanda Bernal-Orozco, Barbara Vizmanos, Elisa J. Vargas-García, Fabiola Márquez-Sandoval, Miguel Amaury Salas-García and Andrés Díaz-López
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:854
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. Food insecurity indicates the difficulty of constantly obtaining adequate food because of limited economic resources. Food insecurity challenges the desired health outcomes. Although extensive literature has e...

    Authors: Nahid Sultana, Mohammad Mafizur Rahman, Rasheda Khanam, Istihak Rayhan and Roni Hossain
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:722
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. The Greater Boston Food Bank’s (GBFB) Healthy Pantry Program (HPP) is an online training that teaches food pantry staff to implement behavioral nudges (e.g., traffic-light nutrition labels, choice architecture...

    Authors: Jenny Jia, Rachel Burgun, Alexa Reilly, Ross Sonnenblick, Lauren Fiechtner, Rachel M. Zack, Bianca Porneala and Anne N. Thorndike
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:355
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. This study aims to examine how the presence of chronic conditions or positive COVID-19 infection (as exposures) is related to food insecurity (as an outcome) in the older population and whether there is a dose...

    Authors: Jiahui Cai and Aurelian Bidulescu
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:179
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Food insecurity has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting an estimated 260 million people. However, little evidence is available on how pandemic-related characteristics influence food security in a...

    Authors: J. Pierre Zila-Velasque, Pamela Grados-Espinoza, Katherine Quispe-Chura, Christopher G. Valdiviezo-Morales, Cristian Diaz-Vélez and Mario J. Valladares-Garrido
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1962
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Delay Discounting is the extent to which one prioritizes smaller immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. The ability to prospect into the future is associated with better health decision-making, which ...

    Authors: Amanda K. Crandall, Nayana Madhudi, Bernadette Osborne, Autum Carter, Aliaya K. Williams and Jennifer L. Temple
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1576
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health restrictions temporarily disrupted food supply chains around the world and changed the way people shopped for food, highlighting issues with food systems resi...

    Authors: Katherine Kent, Fred Gale, Beth Penrose, Stuart Auckland, Elizabeth Lester and Sandra Murray
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1539
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Healthy and sustainable diets need to be adopted to reduce the negative impact of food consumption on human and planetary health. Food systems account for a third of greenhouse gas emissions. “Dietary Patterns...

    Authors: Anna Bach-Faig, Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Natalia Panadero, Sergi Fàbregues, Holly Rippin, Afton Halloran, Ujué Fresán, Mary Pattison and João Breda
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1480
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Globally, governments put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Information on the effects of these measures on the urban poor is limited. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the u...

    Authors: Elizabeth Wambui Kimani-Murage, David Osogo, Carolyn Kemunto Nyamasege, Emmy Kageha Igonya, David Otieno Ngira and John Harrington
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1399
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Child malnutrition persists globally with men and women playing distinct roles to support children’s nutrition. Women frequently carry the bulk of the workload related to food, care, and health, all of which a...

    Authors: Elizabeth Mkandawire, Clement Bisai, Elizabeth Dyke, Anne Dressel, Hazel Kantayeni, Billy Molosoni, Peninnah M. Kako, Kaboni W. Gondwe and Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1392
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. The number of food banks (charitable outlets of emergency food parcels) and the volume of food distributed by them increased multi-fold in the United Kingdom (UK) since 2010. The overwhelming majority of users...

    Authors: Filip Sosenko, Glen Bramley and Arnab Bhattacharjee
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1363
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Food insecurity is a global health challenge exacerbated by COVID-19. In Liberia, two-thirds of pregnant women are anemic, one-third of children are stunted, and 70% of households experienced food insecurity d...

    Authors: Christopher W. Reynolds, Madison Horton, Jacob Paarechuga Anankware, Joseph Perosky, HaEun Lee, Aloysius Nyanplu, Barsee Zogbaye, Alphonso Kofa and Jody R. Lori
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1313
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Research on Indigenous food literacy within Canada has been focused on northern and remote communities despite the fact there are considerable and unique barriers to food access, availability, and utilization ...

    Authors: Rebecca Hanemaayer, Hannah Tait Neufeld, Kim Anderson, Jess Haines, Kelly Gordon, Kitty R. Lynn Lickers, Adrianne Xavier, Laura Peach and Mwalu Peeters
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1156
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. This work aims to analyse the prevalence of excess weight in Brazil to demonstrate the nutritional transition that is occurring. The data mobilized in the research are from the Food and Nutritional Surveillanc...

    Authors: Marcia Domênica Cunico Barancelli, Marcio Gazolla and Sergio Schneider
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1131
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. It is widely acknowledged that the invasion by colonial powers of the Australian continent had profound and detrimental impacts on Aboriginal Communities, including food security. Policies of successive govern...

    Authors: Simone Sherriff, Deanna Kalucy, Allison Tong, Nawazish Naqvi, Janice Nixon, Sandra Eades, Tangerene Ingram, Kym Slater, Michelle Dickson, Amanda Lee and Sumithra Muthayya
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:1066
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Cross-sector coalitions can be a powerful vehicle to promote adoption and implementation of evidence-based programs and policies across diverse racial/ethnic communities with a high chronic disease burden. Few...

    Authors: Denise D. Payán, LaVonna B. Lewis, Jacqueline Illum, Breanna Hawkins and David C. Sloane
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:888
    Content type: Research Published on:

  22. Managing the role of dairy foods in healthy and sustainable food systems is challenging. Milk production is associated with greenhouse gas emissions and milk-based processed foods can be high in fat, sugar and...

    Authors: Kerry Ann Brown, Nikhil Srinivasapura Venkateshmurthy, Gopi Potubariki, Piyu Sharma, Jacqueline M. Cardwell, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Cecile Knai and Sailesh Mohan
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:806
    Content type: Research Published on:

  23. COVID-19 mitigation strategies have had an untold effect on food retail stores and restaurants. Early evidence from New York City (NYC) indicated that these strategies, among decreased travel from China and in...

    Authors: Rienna G. Russo, Shahmir H. Ali, Tamar Adjoian Mezzacca, Ashley Radee, Stella Chong, Julie Kranick, Felice Tsui, Victoria Foster, Simona C. Kwon and Stella S. Yi
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:778
    Content type: Research in practice Published on:

  24. Mobile produce markets are becoming an increasingly prevalent, accepted, and effective strategy for improving fruit and vegetable (F&V) access and consumption across underserved and lower-income communities. H...

    Authors: Christina M. Kasprzak, Anne E. Lally, Julia J. Schoonover, Deanna Gallicchio, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, Leah N. Vermont, Alice S. Ammerman, Samina Raja, Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter, Jill N. Tirabassi and Lucia A. Leone
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:776
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. An overlooked problem in food and nutrition system analysis is assuring adequate diversity for a healthy diet. Little is known about nutrient diversity in food and nutrition systems and how it transmits to die...

    Authors: Mahdieh Sheikhi, Nasrin Omidvar, Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei and Hassan Eini-Zinab
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:751
    Content type: Research Published on:

  26. From 2014–2019, Latin America and the Caribbean had the fastest growth of moderate-to-severe food insecurity than any other region, rising from 22.9% to 31.7%. While the prevalence of food insecurity is higher...

    Authors: M. Patrizia Santos, Jessica D. Brewer, Miguel A. Lopez, Valerie A. Paz-Soldan and M. Pia Chaparro
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:717
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  27. Citizen science bears potential to build a comprehensive view of global food environments and create a broader discussion about how to improve them. Despite its potential, citizen science has not been fully ut...

    Authors: Breanne L. Aylward, Krista M. Milford, Kate E. Storey, Candace I. J. Nykiforuk and Kim D. Raine
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:665
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. Despite the widespread proliferation of food banks in high-income countries over the past several decades, there is a paucity of data regarding the long-term experiences of the people who rely on food banks. W...

    Authors: Anita Rizvi, Aganeta Enns, Lucas Gergyek and Elizabeth Kristjansson
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:586
    Content type: Research Published on:

  30. Our objectives were to describe both the development, and content, of a charitable food dataset that includes geographic information for food pantries in 12 American states.

    Authors: Natalie D. Riediger, Lindsey Dahl, Rajeshwari A. Biradar, Adriana N. Mudryj and Mahmoud Torabi
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:525
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  31. Malawi is at the brink of experiencing food insecurity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as the vast majority of its population lives in extreme poverty. While measures are being implemented to avert the spread of ...

    Authors: Mastano N. Dzimbiri, Patrick Mwanjawala, Emmanuel Chilanga and George N. Chidimbah Munthali
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:522
    Content type: Research Published on:

  32. Socioeconomic inequalities in diets need to be tackled to improve population diets and prevent obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. The potential of food environment policies to reduce such ineq...

    Authors: Anne Lene Løvhaug, Sabrina Ionata Granheim, Sanne K. Djojosoeparto, Janas M. Harrington, Carlijn B. M. Kamphuis, Maartje P. Poelman, Gun Roos, Alexia Sawyer, Karien Stronks, Liv Elin Torheim, Cliona Twohig, Stefanie Vandevijvere, Frank J. van Lenthe and Laura Terragni
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:433
    Content type: Research Published on:

  33. Food insecurity (FI), the limited access to healthy food to live an active and healthy life, is a social determinant of health linked to poor dietary health and difficulty with disease management in the United...

    Authors: Sabira Taher, Naoko Muramatsu, Angela Odoms-Young, Nadine Peacock, C. Fagen Michael and K. Suh Courtney
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:97
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  34. In the City of Vancouver, Canada, non-profit food hubs such as food banks, neighbourhood houses, community centres, and soup kitchens serve communities that face food insecurity. Food that is available yet ina...

    Authors: Daniel Rajasooriar and Tammara Soma
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:6
    Content type: Research Published on:

  35. The burden of food insecurity remains a public health challenge even in high income countries, such as Australia, and especially among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. While research h...

    Authors: Reima Mansour, James Rufus John, Pranee Liamputtong and Amit Arora
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2021 21:2156
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  36. Partnerships between charitable food systems and healthcare systems have been forming across the country to support individuals and families experiencing food insecurity, yet little research has focused on the...

    Authors: Natalie S. Poulos, Eileen K. Nehme, Molly M. O’Neil and Dorothy J. Mandell
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2021 21:2025
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  37. To achieve zero hunger targets set within the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, high-income countries such as Australia must reconsider current efforts to improve food security. This study aimed to; explore perspec...

    Authors: Stephanie L. Godrich, Liza Barbour and Rebecca Lindberg
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2021 21:1132
    Content type: Research Published on: