Food insecurity today, heart problems tomorrow?
Study shows food insecurity raises risk of heart disease over time.
Struggling to afford food today could raise the risk of heart disease in the years to come. As reported in a JAMA Cardiology study, young adults experiencing food insecurity have a 41% greater risk of developing heart disease in midlife, even after accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Food insecurity, defined as struggling to buy enough nutritious food to stay healthy, affects about 13% of households in the U.S. each year. The investigators identified participants who reported food insecurity in 2000-2001, when they were in their early 30s to mid-40s, and compared their health outcomes over the next 20 years to those who reported being food secure. Among the 3,616 study participants, those with food insecurity were 41% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease in the future than their food-secure counterparts. This makes addressing food security a clear target for reducing the burden of heart disease, the single biggest killer in America.
References
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2831124
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics
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.
