HOUSEHOLD HUNGER SCALE HHS Tools and Methodology Sentinel

HOUSEHOLD HUNGER SCALE (HHS) Tools and Methodology Sentinel Site Training- Kabul, Afghanistan May 20 -22 2012 Aida Ndiaye

OVERVIEW Household Hunger Scale(HHS) HHS Tool HHS Methods HHS Scoring HHS Categories Exercises

HOUSEHOLD HUNGER SCALE measure of household food access captures insufficient food quantity, which includes food supply and intake and physical consequences index built around 3 questions representing varying degrees of food hunger experienced in a household by the number of times households have experienced hunger within the last 30 days- (perception) unique compared to other food insecurity indicators in that it has been developed and validated for cross-cultural use comparable, thus facilitates decision making

HHS TOOL questionnaire used to collect information on food consumption at the household level 3 questions from the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire items which showed internal validity for all data sets. • questions inquire about: not having food to eat of any kind in the house because of lack of resources to get food; going to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food; going a whole day and night without eating anything at all because there was not enough food.

HHS METHODS 4 weeks/1 month recall careful linguistic adaptation required for choosing the most appropriate term to describe this exact time period. Question In the past [4 weeks/30 days] was there ever no food Q 1 to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any Q 2 household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any household member go a whole day and night without Q 3 eating anything at all because there was not enough food? Frequency Code |___| 0=Never 1 = Rarely /Sometimes (110 times) |___| 2 = Often (more than 10 times) |___|

HHS SCORING four frequencies-of-occurrence options for scoring the HHS (with corresponding values) Never =0 � Rarely/sometimes =1 � often =2 � HHS = response 1+ response 2 + response 3: score ranges from 0 to 6 score is basis for categorizing households with respect to household hunger

HHS CATEGORIES l to tabulate the categorical HHS indicator, two different cut-off values (>1 and >3) HHS score between Household Hunger Categories 0 -1 Little to no hunger in the household 2 -3 Moderate hunger in the household 4 -6 Severe hunger in the household

EXERCISES In household A, you have obtained the following scores on the HHS Question In the past [4 weeks/30 days] was there ever no food Q 1 to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any Q 2 household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any household member go a whole day and night without Q 3 eating anything at all because there was not enough food? Frequency Code 1 0=Never 1 = Rarely /Sometimes (110 times) 2 = Often (more than 10 times) In what category of the hunger scale is household A? 2 0

EXERCISES In household B, you have obtained the following scores on the HHS Question In the past [4 weeks/30 days] was there ever no food Q 1 to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any Q 2 household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any household member go a whole day and night without Q 3 eating anything at all because there was not enough food? Frequency Code 1 0=Never 1 = Rarely /Sometimes (110 times) 2 = Often (more than 10 times) In what category of the hunger scale is household B? 0 0

EXERCISES In household C, you have obtained the following scores on the HHS Question In the past [4 weeks/30 days] was there ever no food Q 1 to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any Q 2 household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any household member go a whole day and night without Q 3 eating anything at all because there was not enough food? Frequency Code 2 0=Never 1 = Rarely /Sometimes (110 times) 2 = Often (more than 10 times) In what category of the hunger scale is household C? 2 1

EXERCISES In household D, you have obtained the following scores on the HHS Question In the past [4 weeks/30 days] was there ever no food Q 1 to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any Q 2 household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? In the past [4 weeks/30 days] did you or any household member go a whole day and night without Q 3 eating anything at all because there was not enough food? Frequency Code 2 0=Never 1 = Rarely /Sometimes (110 times) 2 = Often (more than 10 times) In what category of the hunger scale is household D? 2 0

ANSWERS Household A: HHS Category=2 -Moderate hunger in the household Household B: HHS Category=1 -Little to no hunger in the household Household C: HHS Category=3 -Severe hunger in the household Household D: HHS Category=3 -Severe hunger in the household