Food Insecurity Linked to Rapid Mental Health Deterioration
Food insecurity predicted and was associated with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression within 1 month, new research showed. However, mental health improved rapidly when food security was restored.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of Changing Cost of Living Study data for 240 adults from France and 244 adults from the UK between 2022 and 2023.
Food insecurity was measured using three items from the United Nations Global Food Insecurity Experience Scale with a 1-week reference period, yielding scores from 0 (food secure) to 3 (severe food insecurity).
Anxiety and depression were measured using the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) and eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) scores, respectively, with reference periods of 2 weeks.
Additionally, analyses were conducted 'within individuals' (how a single individual's characteristics change) and 'between individuals' (how individuals differ from each other).
TAKEAWAY:
Within-individual analysis showed that food-insecure vs food-secure months were associated with increased concurrent symptoms of anxiety (mean standardized GAD-7 score, 0.15; P < .001) and depression (mean standardized PHQ-8 score, 0.11; P = .005).
Between-individual analysis showed an even stronger association between food insecurity and poor mental health, with nearly fivefold higher mean standardized scores on the GAD-7 (0.71) and sevenfold higher scores on the PHQ-8 (0.76; P < .001 for both) than those of the within-individual analysis.
The associations between food insecurity and poor mental health persisted even after controlling for sex, age, time, and mental health in the previous month.
Additional data showed that eliminating food insecurity could potentially reduce clinically-relevant anxiety and depression symptoms by 20.79 and 19.47 percentage points, respectively, in affected populations.
IN PRACTICE:
'The effects were rapid, occurring within a month of becoming food insecure, and were equally rapidly reversed,' the investigators wrote.
'Consistent with Granger causality, food insecurity in the current month predicted poorer mental health in the following month after controlling for current mental health,' which supports the hypothesis that food insecurity may cause anxiety and depression symptoms, they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Melissa Bateson, Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was published online on July 16 in PLOS Mental Health.
LIMITATIONS:
The study panels were not nationally representative, and all measurements relied on self-reported data, potentially introducing a reporting bias. Additionally, the intensive longitudinal design of the study did not permit causal inferences comparable to those from experimental studies.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by Agence Nationale de la Recherche, UK Prevention Research Partnership, National Institute for Health and Care Research, and University of York Cost of Living Research Group. The investigators reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
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