*Corresponding author: raju.es111012@gmail.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of global public health and
has the potential to cause severe food and water insecurity due to
economic recession during lockdown for people living in low-middle
income countries like Bangladesh where capital resources are scarce.
There is growing evidence that household food and water insecurity has
been associated with poor psychological outcomes.
The objective of this study was to determine the association between
household food and water insecurity with mental health and whether these
differed among urban-rural households.
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 545 participants
immediately after the COVID-19 lockdown period in Bangladesh (August
1-September 30, 2020). Household food and water security were determined
using a 9-item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) (score
range 0-27) and a 12-item Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE)
scale (score range 0-36), respectively. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
was used to evaluate mental health. Multivariable logistic regression
examined the association between household food and water insecurity
with perceived stress, adjusting socioeconomic characteristics. An
urban-rural stratified analysis was also performed.
About 72.84% (397) respondents reported high stress and more than 70%
of households suffered from food and water insecurity during the
lockdown period. After adjusting covariates, logistic regression model
results show that food insecurity was associated with a 1.07-point
increase in high perceived stress (OR=1.07, 95% CI=1.01-1.11,
p<0.01) while water insecurity was associated with 1.03 times
greater odds of high perceived stress (OR=1.03, 95% CI=0.93-1.23,
p<0.05). In stratified analysis, only food insecurity was
associated with high perceived stress in the urban household (OR=1.08,
95% CI=1.00-1.11, p<0.05). However, none of the household
insecurity was associated with perceived stress in rural households.
Interventions that promote equal access to resources for low-income
individuals will likely to be more effective to alleviate economic
burden of pandemic.
Keywords: Food security, water security, COVID-19, Bangladesh,
mental health