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Recently, experts have been advocating for surveillance of nutrition insecurity alongside food insecurity. Nutrition security refers to the nutritional adequacy of accessible food and factors that impact one’s ability to meet food preferences. Professor Bruce Y. Lee and colleagues undertook a study to develop estimates of food insecurity and nutrition insecurity for Los Angeles County, California, in order to compare predictors of these constructs and examine whether they independently predict diet-related health outcomes.
In December 2022, a representative sample of Los Angeles County adults participating in the Understanding America Study (N=1071) was surveyed about household food insecurity and nutrition insecurity over the past 12 months. Data were analyzed in 2023.
Reported rates were similar for food insecurity (24%) and nutrition insecurity (25%), but the overlap of these subgroups was less than 60%. Logistic regression models indicated that non-Hispanic Asian individuals had higher odds of nutrition insecurity but not food insecurity. Moreover, nutrition insecurity was a stronger predictor of diabetes compared to food insecurity, and both constructs independently predicted poor mental health.
“Food insecurity is a major problem throughout many parts of the U.S.,” says Lee. “But our study has shown that measuring food insecurity alone may not be enough. Food insecurity means that people can’t get enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition insecurity takes into account more complexities of food. Just because people have access to enough food doesn’t mean that the food that they have access to can provide enough nutritional value. Plus, measures of nutritional insecurity take into account important considerations such as individuals’ cultural or religious dietary requirements, as well as other dietary constraints like taste preferences and food allergies.”
Food and nutrition insecurity affect somewhat different populations. Both constructs are valuable predictors of diet-related health outcomes. Monitoring nutrition insecurity in addition to food insecurity can provide new information about populations with barriers to healthy diets.
