Hernandez DC, et al. – This paper ascertained if gender and race/ethnic disparities existed between the food insecurity and overweight/obesity relation among adults aged 18–59 years. It was disclosed that there was no association between food insecurity and overweight/obesity, among black women nor among white, black, and Hispanic men. The complex link between food insecurity and obesity was indicative of a necessity to determine the potential behavioral and physiological mechanisms, and moderators of this correlation.

Methods

• The findings were extracted from a cross-sectional 2011 and 2012 National Health Interview Survey data (N = 19,990).
• Three or more affirmative responses on the 10-item USDA Food Security Scale indicated food insecure experiences.
• Self-reported height and weight estimated the body mass index according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Multivariate logistic regression models were stratified by gender and race/ethnicity, which measured the relation between food insecurity and overweight/obesity controlling for several demographic characteristics.

Results

• Adults on average were 36 years of age (51% female; 56% white, 27% Hispanic, and 17% black), 27% were food insecure, and 65% were overweight/obese.
• Food insecurity appeared to be most prevalent among blacks and Hispanics, regardless of gender.
• A greater percentage of food insecure women were overweight/obese compared to food secure women among all race/ethnicity groups.
• On the other hand, similar proportions of white, black, and Hispanic men were overweight/obese irrespective of their food security status.
• In covariate-adjusted models, food insecurity exhibited a correlation with a 41% and 29% higher odds of being overweight/obese among white and Hispanic women, respectively.