Food Insecurity Linked to Shorter Life, Early Death
Stress from not enough food, or food insecurity, can have detrimental health effects and even result in a lower life expectancy.
An inability to afford adequate food is shaving years off people’s lives in the U.S.
Research demonstrates how a fairly prevalent problem can impact individual health. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that US adults who were food insecure, defined as inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints, had higher odds of dying prematurely and having shorter life expectancy after age 50 compared with food-secure individuals. Adults with very low food security lived fewer 4.5 years, once they turned 50, than those with full food security. The findings, based on survey data from over 57,400 Americans between 1999 and 2018, showed that adults with low levels of food security tended to be younger, uninsured, lower-income and Black or Hispanic. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 13% of U.S. households—or 17 million households—were food insecure in 2022. So, in addition to encouraging people to improve lifestyle habits such as increasing exercise frequency and duration, improving food security may also be a way to increase the life expectancy of U.S. residents.
Want to learn more? Should We Get More Serious About Food Insecurity?
References
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2814488
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/107703/err-325.pdf?v=7814.4
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
