Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://saultonline.com/2020/12/covid-19-hurting-canadians-food-security-and-mental-health-statcan/
COVID-19 hurting Canadians’ food security and mental health: StatCan
By Content Team -
December 21, 2020
About 5.1 million Canadians are food insecure, and many of them are struggling with mental health issues. And the pandemic has made the situation worse, according to a report released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.
Food insecurity is closely related to mental health, with up to 40 per cent of food-insecure Canadians reporting struggles with depression, anxiety and a suite of other psychological challenges pre-pandemic. According to the new report, between half and three-quarters of food-insecure Canadians reported poor mental health or anxiety in the past year.
“These results, sadly, absolutely did not surprise me,” said Jennifer Black, professor of food, nutrition and health at the University of British Columbia. “They are extremely consistent with all the data that has been emerging from the pandemic and all the data that had been emerging before the pandemic.”
Even before the pandemic, about 11 per cent of Canadians were food insecure, and the majority of them were employed, according to 2018 data from Statistics Canada. But low-wage jobs and precarious work situations — including many that have proved essential during the pandemic, like grocery store workers, care home attendants and delivery drivers — were already leaving many without enough money to cover their basic needs.
In other words, food insecurity is driven by poverty — not by a lack of food...
COVID-19 hurting Canadians’ food security and mental health: StatCan
By Content Team -
December 21, 2020
About 5.1 million Canadians are food insecure, and many of them are struggling with mental health issues. And the pandemic has made the situation worse, according to a report released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.
Food insecurity is closely related to mental health, with up to 40 per cent of food-insecure Canadians reporting struggles with depression, anxiety and a suite of other psychological challenges pre-pandemic. According to the new report, between half and three-quarters of food-insecure Canadians reported poor mental health or anxiety in the past year.
“These results, sadly, absolutely did not surprise me,” said Jennifer Black, professor of food, nutrition and health at the University of British Columbia. “They are extremely consistent with all the data that has been emerging from the pandemic and all the data that had been emerging before the pandemic.”
Even before the pandemic, about 11 per cent of Canadians were food insecure, and the majority of them were employed, according to 2018 data from Statistics Canada. But low-wage jobs and precarious work situations — including many that have proved essential during the pandemic, like grocery store workers, care home attendants and delivery drivers — were already leaving many without enough money to cover their basic needs.
In other words, food insecurity is driven by poverty — not by a lack of food...
