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Food insecurity, mental distress and suicidal ideation in rural Africa: Evidence from Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana
One of the aims of this 2019 study was to find out the prevalence of food insecurity, mental distress, and suicidal ideation among 1,142 individuals living in rural villages in Nigeria (n = 380), Uganda (n = 380) and Ghana (n = 382). The second objective was to examine how these 3 measures interact with one another. Food insecurity was determined based on the number of months in the previous year that the respondent’s family were ‘unable to eat two square meals per day’. The Kessler non-specific psychological distress scale (K6) indicated that 35.5%, 30.8%, and 30.4%, of participants from Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana, had moderate or severe mental distress, respectively. Moreover, suicidal ideation was reported by 29.7% of Nigerians, 21.3% of Ugandans, and 10.9% of Ghanians. There was no variation in mental distress between the men and the women of any of these countries. Less mental distress appeared to be related to being a farmer in Uganda and Ghana, but no other social factors were significantly associated with mental distress. Across the 3 study sites, risk of having suicidal thoughts was different too. Suicidal ideation was linked with food insecurity in Nigeria, female sex in Uganda, and advancing age in Uganda. Sweetland et al. have exposed the higher than previously thought prevalence of mental distress and suicidal ideation in 3 areas in Nigeria, Uganda, and Ghana. Further research is encouraged to better understand the social etiology of mental distress in these poverty-stricken countries in sub-Saharan Africa. [NPID: food insecurity, mental health, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, suicide, suicidal ideation, female, Africa]
Year: 2019
