Food Insufficiency and Physical and Mental Health in a Longitudinal Survey of Welfare Recipients

Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insuffic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health and social behavior 2004-06, Vol.45 (2), p.171-186
Main Authors: Siefert, Kristine, Heflin, Colleen M., Corcoran, Mary E., Williams, David R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
African Americans
African Americans - psychology
Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding
Biological and medical sciences
Depression (Psychology)
Depressive Disorder, Major - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder, Major - etiology
Environment. Living conditions
Family Characteristics
Female
Females
Food security
Food shortages
Food supply
Food Supply - statistics & numerical data
Gender discrimination
Health
Households
Humans
Hunger
Hunger - physiology
Longitudinal Studies
Low income groups
Major depressive disorder
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Michigan - epidemiology
Middle Aged
Nutrition
Polls & surveys
Poverty
Predisposing factors
Prevalence
Public Assistance - utilization
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk Factors
Social policy
Waves
Welfare Recipients
White people
Women
Women's Health
Womens health
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Summary:Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insufficiency from risk factors for poor health that are also common among the food insufficient, such as poverty. We examined food insufficiency and physical and mental health among African American and white women (n = 676) who were welfare recipients in 1997. Controlling for common risk factors, women who reported food insufficiency in both 1997 and 1998 were more likely to report fair or poor health at the later date. Food insufficiency in 1998 was significantly associated with meeting the diagnostic screening criteria for recent major depression. Food insufficiency at both times and in 1998 only was related to women's sense of mastery. These findings add to growing evidence that household food insufficiency is associated with poor physical and mental health.
ISSN:0022-1465
2150-6000
DOI:10.1177/002214650404500204