Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis.

Food insecurity (FI) is associated with obesity among women in high-income countries. This seemingly paradoxical association can be explained by the insurance hypothesis, which states that humans possess evolved mechanisms that increase fat storage to buffer against energy shortfall when access to food is unpredictable. The evolutionary logic underlying the insurance hypothesis is well established and experiments on animals confirm that exposure to unpredictable food causes weight gain, but the mechanisms involved are less clear. Drawing on data from humans and other vertebrates, we review a suite of behavioural and physiological mechanisms that could increase fat storage under FI. FI causes short-term hyperphagia, but evidence that it is associated with increased total energy intake is lacking. Experiments on animals suggest that unpredictable food causes increases in retained metabolizable energy and reductions in energy expenditure sufficient to fuel weight gain in the absence of increased food intake. Reducing energy expenditure by diverting energy from somatic maintenance into fat stores should improve short-term survival under FI, but the trade-offs potentially include increased disease risk and accelerated ageing. We conclude that exposure to FI plausibly causes increased adiposity, poor health and shorter lifespan. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part II)'.

Food insecurity is a persistent concern in high-income countries, and has been associated with poor mental health, particularly among females. We conducted a scoping review to characterize the state of the evidence on food insecurity and mental health among women in high-income countries. The research databases PubMed, EMBASE, and psycINFO were searched using keywords capturing food insecurity, mental health, and women. Thirty-nine articles (representing 31 unique studies/surveys) were identified. Three-quarters of the articles drew upon data from a version of the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. A range of mental health measures were used, most commonly to measure depression and depressive symptoms, but also anxiety and stress. Most research was cross-sectional and showed associations between depression and food insecurity; longitudinal analyses suggested bidirectional relationships (with food insecurity increasing the risk of depressive symptoms or diagnosis, or depression predicting food insecurity). Several articles focused on vulnerable subgroups, such as pregnant women and mothers, women at risk of homelessness, refugees, and those who had been exposed to violence or substance abuse. Overall, this review supports a link between food insecurity and mental health (and other factors, such as housing circumstances and exposure to violence) among women in high-income countries and underscores the need for comprehensive policies and programs that recognize complex links among public health challenges.

Introduction and objective: Food insecurity (FI) is an emerging and alarming problem among university students. The problem particularly affects students from poor households. The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa is likely to be no exception to experiencing student FI as more than 50% of the students are poor. In 2012, UKZN implemented a Food Security Programme (FSP) to help address this emergent challenge. Until now, there is little literature exploring the prevalence and perceptions of the FI and interventions at UKZN. The study aimed to determine students’ vulnerability to FI in terms of food access and meal frequencies, students’ perceptions of FI and its effect on academic performance. The study also aimed to determine the students’ awareness and utilisation of the FSP. Methods: A total of 500 students registered at UKZN were invited to participate using a questionnaire survey and 91.2% (n = 456) questionnaires were completed and returned. Vulnerability to FI was explored through a nine-item measure, i.e. related to the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS); and a one-item measure of the self-reported eating habits by the students ‘in normal circumstances’. Results and conclusion: The findings suggest that FI remains a serious challenge among university students. Using the one-item measure, vulnerability to FI was evident in 53.1% of the students, of whom 44% experienced moderate levels of vulnerability; 9.2% were highly vulnerable. There was a significant correlation between the students’ source of funding and being FI due to lack of resources (r = 0.119, p = 0.012). FI has a high potential to negatively affect students’ academic outcomes. About 64.3% of the students indicated that hunger reduced their concentration and vigour such that 27.7% had missed classes. Social stigma was attached to FI; 30% of the students preferred anonymity regarding their FI status; 37.7% showed reluctance to utilise/recommend the FSP to anyone. Recommendations are made for institutional and national responses.

In Canada, over 4.4 million people experience food insecurity, a serious public health issue characterized by inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. Globally, women experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, which can be a highly stigmatizing experience that is associated with feelings of shame and social isolation. This narrative review explores how and why social beliefs and stigma contribute to social exclusion among women experiencing food insecurity within high-income countries, and how enhancing the capacity for empathetic responses to feelings of shame, and efforts to strengthen women’s resilience to shame, can lead to a reduction in stigma. The thematic analysis of the articles included in this review resulted in four themes: 1) the mechanisms of food insecurity-related social exclusion; 2) charitable responses to food insecurity and stigma, shame, and social exclusion; 3) women’s experiences with food insecurity, stigma, shame, and social exclusion; and 4) empathy and shame resilience. The findings of this review suggest that dominant responses to food insecurity contribute to stigma, shame, and social exclusion among women, and that the inadequacy of existing policy responses to address food insecurity has wide-reaching ramifications on the health and well-being of women and their families.

Evaluating Face Validity of an Arabic Translation of a Food Security Questionnaire

Background: Bullying victimization can impose long-lasting impacts on adolescent's current and subsequent well-being. Understanding the correlates of bullying victimization and how to prevent its occurrence is an urgent need. Food insecurity, an indicator of low socioeconomic status, may be related to bullying victimization. However, research on the association between food insecurity and bullying victimization is limited. Using a representative global sample, this study aimed to investigate the association between food insecurity and bullying victimization in adolescents and whether the association varied between country income levels, sexes, and age groups.Methods: Using cross-sectional, school-based data by 170,618 adolescents in 59 countries from the Global School-based Student Health Survey, multivariable logistic regression and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the overall, country-stratified, sex-stratified, and age-stratified associations.Results: The prevalence of bullying victimization was 33.3%. In the total sample, adolescents with food insecurity showed significantly higher odds for bullying victimization than those without no food insecurity with a pooled odds ratio (OR) being 1.37 (1.28, 1.47). Further, the association was stronger in higher-income countries, females, and older adolescents.Conclusions: Bullying victimization is prevalent among global adolescents with food insecurity being a significant correlate. The identification of adolescents with perceptions of food insecurity and remedying this condition may be important to reduce the prevalence of bullying. This highlights the need to design and implement sex- and age-specific interventions focusing on remedying food insecurity and bullying victimization among in-school adolescents by taking country income levels into account.

Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e. urban agriculture; UA). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N=583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA. Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U­=19894.50, z=−3.649, p<0.001, r=−0.167) and higher well-being (U=19566.50, z=−3.666, p<0.001, r=−0.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic. Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.

Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e., urban agriculture [UA]). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N = 583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA. Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U ­= 19894.50, z = -3.649, p<.001, r = -.167) and higher well-being (U = 19566.50, z = -3.666, p<.001, r = -.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic. Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.

Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e., urban agriculture [UA]). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N = 583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA. Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U ­= 19894.50, z = -3.649, p<.001, r = -.167) and higher well-being (U = 19566.50, z = -3.666, p<.001, r = -.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic. Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.

Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e., urban agriculture [UA]). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic ( N = 583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA. Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity ( U ­= 19894.50, z = -3.649, p<.001, r = -.167) and higher well-being ( U = 19566.50, z = -3.666, p<.001, r = -.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic. Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.

“Come with us for a week, for a month, and see how much food lasts for you:” A Qualitative Exploration of Food Insecurity in East Harlem, New York City

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, rural-dwelling people in high-income countries were known to have greater challenges accessing healthy food than their urban counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted food supplies across the world, and public health restrictions have changed the way people shop for food, potentially exacerbating food insecurity. This systematic literature review aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aspects of food insecurity in rural populations residing in high-income countries. Five electronic databases were searched, identifying 22 articles that assessed food insecurity prevalence or data on food availability, access, utilization and the stability of the food supply in rural populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten studies examined the prevalence of food insecurity in rural populations, with the reported prevalence ranging from 15% to 95%. Where rural/urban comparisons were presented, most studies (n = 5; 71%) reported that food insecurity was significantly higher in rural regions. Five studies examined the availability of food and eight studies examined access to food, identifying that rural populations often had lower food availability and access to food during the pandemic. In contrast, two studies identified positive effects such as more gardening and increased online access to food. Rural populations experienced multiple changes to food utilization, such as reduced diet quality and food safety observed in eight studies, but this was not shown to be different from urban populations. Additionally, the food supply in rural regions was perceived to be affected in two studies. The results of this review may be used to inform region-specific mitigation strategies to decrease the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic and future global events on food security. However, the lack of consistency in study outcomes in research on rural populations limits the identification of priority areas for intervention at a global-scale.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic it was widely reported that, in the United States, over 40 percent of food produced was wasted During the pandemic, news reports have described unprecedented household food waste, up by 30 percent according to Republic Services, one of the largest waste management services in the US (Helmer 2020) But upstream, food waste was, and continues to be, equally problematic When institutions such as schools and universities, large businesses, restaurants, and other venues must shut down, so too must the food supply chain for those locations Farmers who produce food for large-scale public use have been unable to redirect their products for grocery markets, and so in many cases their harvests and dairy cannot be used Elsewhere along the chain, farm and other food laborers (e g , meat-packing workers, delivery workers) without access to protection and health care cannot continue to pack and deliver food at "normal" levels, and so potential food has been left in fields and warehouses (Evich 2020)

P65 Navigating Food Insecurity at College: Examining Student Experiences and Perspectives on Solutions

Post-Disaster Food Insecurity: Hurricane Maria as a Case Study