Abstract
A redesigned food insecurity question that measured food stress was included in the
2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in the Social Context optional module.
The objective of our study was to examine the association between food stress and
obesity using this question as a surrogate for food insecurity. Our analytic sample
included 66,553 adults from 12 states. Food insecurity was determined by response
(always/usually/sometimes) to the question, “How often in the past 12 months would
you say you were worried or stressed about having enough money to buy nutritious meals?”
T tests were used to compare prevalence differences between groups, and logistic regression
was used to examine the association between food insecurity and obesity. Among the
12 states, the prevalence of obesity was 27.1% overall, 25.2% among food secure adults,
and 35.1% among food insecure adults. Food insecure adults had 32% increased odds
of being obese compared to food secure adults. Compared with food secure adults, food
insecure adults had significantly higher prevalence of obesity in the following population
subgroups: adults ages ≥30 years, women, non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks,
adults with some college education or a college degree, a household income of <$25,000
or $50,000 to $74,999, and adults with none or two children in their households. One
in three food insecure adults were obese. Food insecurity was associated with obesity
in the overall population and most population subgroups. These findings are consistent
with previous research and highlight the importance of increasing access to affordable
healthy foods for all adults.
Keywords
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Biography
L. Pan is an epidemiologist, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Biography
B. Sherry is a senior epidemiologist, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Biography
H. M. Blanck is a senior epidemiologist, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Biography
R. Njai is an epidemiologist, Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 28, 2012
Accepted:
May 9,
2012
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict interest was reported by the authors.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
