Food Insecurity Linked to Obesity Regardless of Diet Quality, Total Calories

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Food Insecurity Linked to Obesity Regardless of Diet Quality, Total Calories

Differences in eating patterns don’t fully explain the higher rate of obesity that people with food insecurity experience, according to a new study presented at ENDO 2002, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, and described in an article at Healio.

Food insecurity — not having reliable access to nutritious foods — is widespread in the United States, with estimates showing that about one in 10 children and as many as one in five adults with diabetes face this problem. Food insecurity is linked to several poor health outcomes, including worse blood glucose control in people with diabetes and greater difficulty losing weight. But in many studies , it has been an open question whether food insecurity directly leads to poor outcomes, or whether these outcomes can be explained by a worse diet quality in people with food insecurity.

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For the latest study, the researchers aimed to answer the question of whether the link between food insecurity and obesity can be explained by key differences in how people with food insecurity eat. They looked at data from nearly 8,000 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during the 2015-2016 cycle, and used these numbers to draw estimates for the entire U.S. population of over 233 million adults. Participants were divided into two groups based on their responses to certain questions — those with food insecurity (equivalent to 41.2 million people nationwide) and those without food insecurity (192.5 million people). Participants had their weight, height, and waist circumference measured by a technician as part of the study, and their body composition was measures using a DXA scan (an imaging scan that uses low-level X-rays).

Those experiencing food insecurity more likely to have obesity

The researchers found that adults with food insecurity were 22% more likely to have obesity than those without food insecurity, and they were 67% more likely to have severe obesity. Waist circumference was also an average of 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) greater in those with food insecurity.

Based on responses to dietary recall surveys, the researchers found that between the two groups — those with and without food insecurity — there were no significant overall differences in consumption of total calories, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, total fat, or saturated fat. Adults with food insecurity did have a somewhat lower score for whats known as the Healthy Eating Index — an average of 47 compared with 51, on a scale of 0 to 100 where a higher score indicates a healthier diet. But this difference only partially explained the relationship between food insecurity and waist size, and did nothing to explain the relationship between food insecurity and body-mass index (a measure of body weight that takes height into account) or total body fat.

The researchers concluded that more studies are needed to gain a better understanding of how food insecurity affects the risk for obesity — and in particular, to find out why people with food insecurity apparently gain or retain more body weight when consuming the same number of calories as people without food insecurity.

Want to learn more about food insecurity and resources for affording food? Read “Six Ways to Save Money on Groceries” and “Resources for Affording Food.” 

Quinn Phillips

Quinn Phillips

Quinn Phillips on social media

A freelance health writer and editor based in Wisconsin, Phillips has a degree from Harvard University. He is a former Editorial Assistant for Diabetes Self-Management and has years of experience covering diabetes and related health conditions. Phillips writes on a variety of topics, but is especially interested in the intersection of health and public policy.

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