Page 17 - IJPS-9-1

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Association between food insecurity severity

and major depression: Findings from the
United States National Health and Nutrition

Examination Survey

Elizabeth Ann Luke, Josh Wallace, and Roger Wong*
Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Norton College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate
Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA

Abstract

Food insecurity and mental health disorders have been increasing in all populations
globally due to a variety of sociopolitical factors. Our study examines how the
severity of food insecurity is associated with major depression in adults. We analyzed
data from the 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which
includes a nationally representative sample from households across the United
States. Our sample was restricted to adults aged 18 and older, resulting in a sample
size of 5856 participants. We used a multiple logistic regression with sampling
weights applied to evaluate whether adult food insecurity severity is associated with
major depression. Overall, higher severity of food insecurity was associated with
*Corresponding author:
Roger Wong increased odds of depression. Specifically, adults with very low food security had a
(WongRo@upstate.edu) 315% significantly increased odds of depression compared to those with full food
Citation: Luke, E.A., Wallace, J., security (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 4.15, 95% CI = 3.09 – 5.64, p < 0.05). Females also
& Wong, R. (2023). Association had a 60% significantly higher odds of depression (aOR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.12 – 2.30,
between food insecurity severity p < 0.05) and higher income levels were significantly associated with lower odds
and major depression: Findings
from the United States National of depression (aOR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.83–0.97, p < 0.05). Our study supports prior
Health and Nutrition Examination research that food insecurity has adverse effects on mental health. These results can
Survey. International Journal of be used to inform public health research and interventions for food insecurity and
Population Studies, 9(1):11-17.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.435 mental health moving forward.
Received: January 1, 2023
Keywords: Depression; Food insecurity; Hunger; Mental health; Prevention; Public health
Accepted: April 13, 2023
Published Online: April 27, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Food insecurity is a public health concern that has been investigated widely over the past
License, permitting distribution, few decades. Food insecurity is defined as a disruption in the intake or eating patterns
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is due to cost or other access barriers (Jones et al., 2013). According to the United States
properly cited. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA ERS), 10.2% of U.S.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience households were food insecure at some point in 2021, with 3.9% experiencing very low
Publishing remains neutral with food security. Food insecurity is not uniform across America and has a higher prevalence
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional in southern states. For example, Mississippi had a 15.3% rate of food insecurity compared
affiliations. to New Hampshire’s 5.4% (USDA ERS, 2022).

Volume 9 Issue 1 (2023) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.435