Food Insufficiency Is Associated with High-Risk Sexual Behavior among Women in Botswana and Swaziland

An article by Sheri D Weiser, Karen Leiter, David R Bangsberg, Lisa M Butler, Fiona Percy-de Korte, Zakhe Hlanze, Nthabiseng Phaladze, Vincent Iacopino, Michele Heisler in PLoS Med 4(10): e260. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040260.

This is a study of the association between food insufficiency (not having enough food to eat over the previous 12 months) and inconsistent condom use, sex exchange, and other measures of risky sex in a cross-sectional population-based study of 1,255 adults in Botswana and 796 adults in Swaziland using a stratified two-stage probability design. Food insufficiency was reported by 32% of women and 22% of men over the previous 12 months. Among 1,050 women in both countries, after controlling for respondent characteristics including income and education, HIV knowledge, and alcohol use, food insufficiency was associated with inconsistent condom use with a non-primary partner. The authors suggest that targeted food assistance and income generation programs in conjunction with efforts to enhance women’s legal and social rights may play an important role in decreasing HIV transmission risk for women. (text adapted from authors)