Masters Degrees (Consumer Science)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/415

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Consumer Science) by Author "Oldewage-Theron, Wilna"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Changes in the food security status during the Covid-19 pandemic among the elderly within the Bethal District, Mpumalanga, South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2023) de Jager, Aninka; Cronjé, Natasha; Oldewage-Theron, Wilna
    South African households were established to be food insecure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, hunger in Africa has only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, due to its effects on economies and job losses. Moreover, the food security status of the elderly in the Bethal district, Mpumalanga, remained unknown for the time period prior to and during COVID-19. Therefore, this study focused on determining the food security status of the elderly with the use of HFIAS (Household Food Insecurity Access Scale) and HDDS (Household Dietary Diversity Score), also including food access and availability, health effects of COVID-19 and consumer food behaviour amongst the elderly in the Bethal district in Mpumalanga prior to and during COVID-19. A mixed-method study with a total sample of 112 people, between the ages of 60 and 100 years, who live in the Bethal district (including: Amersfoort, Bethal, Ermelo, Kriel, Middelburg, Morgenzon, Secunda, Volksrust, Wakkerstroom, Witbank/eMalahleni, Devon, Brakpan, Lothair, and Perdekop). A structured questionnaire in the form of a survey was employed to obtain quantitative data. The qualitative component utilised semi-structured interviews that were conducted in person with the researcher in order to gain information of the participant’s experience on the COVID-19 lockdown and it’s effects on food security. Descriptive and inferential analysis to determine significance was done with SPSS version 26. Only 21.6% of elderly respondents reported various levels of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, no significant differences were observed in the number of respondents that were severely food insecure prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, more than half (54.1%) respondents reported taking part in physical activity during lockdown; even though, the majority of the respondents did not meet the recommended physical activity guidelines of exercising at least 30 minutes per day. Very few (20.5%) of respondents reported weight gain during the COVID-19 lockdown period, as very few also reported being an emotional eater. A few participants (n=16) reported experiencing mental health difficulties due to social media content received during lockdown. More than half (69.9%) of respondents reported being diagnosed with a chronic illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The HDDS indicated that the elderly consumed more healthy foods during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to prior the pandemic, as very few respondents reported consuming more snacks during the lockdown, and very few reported lockdown as stressful or affecting their sleep negatively. The findings suggest that food security prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic remained high amongst the sampled population. However, mild to severe food insecurity percentages increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic was observed to increase health difficulties experienced, which include chronic illnesses and mental health. No significant differences were reported in the elderly’s physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the elderly did not experience a change in income during the COVID-19 pandemic. For future research, more in-depth studies are necessary to explore the elderly’s consumer behaviour, how provinces within South Africa’s elderly food security differ after the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focussing on the low-income elderly within South Africa and how food price increases since the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the elderly’s food security.