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Comparative Study
. 2019 Jun 19;11(6):1376.
doi: 10.3390/nu11061376.

Cardiovascular Health, Adiposity, and Food Insecurity in an Underserved Population

Candice A Myers  1 , Corby K Martin  2 , Robert L Newton Jr  3 , John W Apolzan  4 , Connie L Arnold  5 , Terry C Davis  6 , Eboni G Price-Haywood  7   8 , Peter T Katzmarzyk  9
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Cardiovascular Health, Adiposity, and Food Insecurity in an Underserved Population

Candice A Myers et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

This study investigated associations between cardiovascular health (CVH), adiposity, and food insecurity by race, sex, and health literacy in a sample of 800 underserved patients with obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2). CVH was assessed using American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 (LS7) and adiposity was estimated using BMI and waist circumference (WC). Mixed models including interaction terms between food insecurity and sex, race, and health literacy were analyzed for LS7, BMI, and WC. Stratified models were analyzed as indicated by significant interactions. Mean BMI and WC were 37.3 kg/m2 (4.6 SD) and 113.5 cm (12.4 SD), respectively. Among patients, 31% were food insecure and 31% had low health literacy. There were significant positive associations between food insecurity and BMI (p = 0.03) and WC (p = 0.03) in the overall sample. In sex-stratified models, women who were food insecure had higher BMI (p = 0.02) and WC (p = 0.007) than their food secure counterparts. Further, food insecure patients with better health literacy had greater BMI (p = 0.004) and WC (p = 0.007) than their food secure counterparts. Results suggest that adiposity is a greater burden in food insecure patients, which may be an important consideration for obesity treatment in underserved populations.

Keywords: adiposity; cardiovascular health; food insecurity; health literacy; underserved population.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adjusted Mean Adiposity by Food Security Status and Sex in PROPEL Patients. * indicates statistical significance (p < 0.05). BMI, body mass index.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Adjusted Mean Adiposity by Food Security Status and Health Literacy Status in PROPEL Patients. * indicates statistical significance (p < 0.05). BMI, body mass index.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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