Food insecurity among veterans of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Food insecurity, or lack of access to sufficient food for a healthful lifestyle, has been associated with many aspects of poor health. While the economic struggles among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been documented, it is unknown how commonly this population struggles to afford...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public health nutrition 2015-04, Vol.18 (5), p.844-849
Main Authors: Widome, Rachel, Jensen, Agnes, Bangerter, Ann, Fu, Steven S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Afghan Campaign 2001
Afghanistan War
Binge drinking
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diet - psychology
Electronic Health Records
Exercise
Family Characteristics
Female
Food security
Food Supply - economics
Households
Humans
Hunger
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Male
Mental health
Military Family - economics
Military Family - psychology
Monitoring and surveillance
Nutrition Surveys
Nutritional Status
Poverty
Prevalence
Response rates
Risk
Short Communication
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
Stress, Psychological - etiology
Tobacco
United States - epidemiology
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans
Veterans Health - economics
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Summary:Food insecurity, or lack of access to sufficient food for a healthful lifestyle, has been associated with many aspects of poor health. While the economic struggles among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been documented, it is unknown how commonly this population struggles to afford food. Our purpose was to document the prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A cross-sectional survey. US military veterans who had served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001. Subjects responded to a survey mailed to them in summer 2012. Food security was measured by the US Household Food Security Module: Six Item Short Form. Demographic and behavioural health items were also included. Survey data were matched to medical record data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Over one in four veterans reported past-year food insecurity with 12 % reporting very low food security. Food-insecure veterans tended to be younger, not married/partnered, living in households with more children, earning lower incomes, had a lower final military pay grade, were more likely to use tobacco, reported more frequent binge drinking and slept less, compared with those who were food secure (P
ISSN:1368-9800
1475-2727
DOI:10.1017/S136898001400072X