According to a new study published in The Journal of Nutrition, current tools used to assess food security among older adults do not measure the ability to shop for food and prepare meals, and therefore may fail to identify those at the highest risk.

Economic food insecurity tools are used to detect need for assistance in the general population. However, research consistently shows that in older adults, food insecurity can also be due to factors other than economic, such as physical inability to shop or cook. Although economic food insecurity has been well researched, little is known about the additional implications of physical food insecurity (the inability to shop for and prepare food).  To better understand food insecurity in older adults (>60 years of age) due to both economic and physical barriers, researcher Nadine Sahyoun (University of Maryland) and colleagues utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2013-2014, 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 cycles), a nationwide survey conducted in the United States to assess health and nutritional status. The study examined: 1) the proportion of older adults in the United States who experience physical and/or economic food insecurity; 2) differences in diet quality, chronic conditions, and depression by economic and/or physical food insecurity; and 3) the relation of physical and economic food insecurity with diet quality and depression.

In this cohort of 4820 adults, 25% had physical difficulty accessing food but were not living in economically food insecure households, and these individuals had significantly lower diet quality scores and were significantly more depressed than those who were completely food secure. The authors concluded that considering physical ability to shop for and prepare food when measuring food insecurity in older adults can help identify those in greatest need of dietary and mental health support. Furthermore, these individuals may otherwise be missed if only measuring economic access.

In a companion commentary, Dr. Jung Sun Lee (University of Georgia) underscores the need to broaden the definition of food insecurity to better assess and monitor this issue, and the need to target food assistance programs among older adults.

References

Anna M Vaudin, Alanna J Moshfegh, Nadine R Sahyoun, Measuring Food Insecurity in Older Adults Using Both Physical and Economic Food Access, NHANES 2013–18, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 152, Issue 8, August 2022, Pages 1953–1962, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac058.

Jung Sun Lee, Food Insecurity in Older Adults, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 152, Issue 8, August 2022, Pages 1808–1809, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac112.

Images via canva.com.

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Kathy Beerman, PhD

Dr. Kathy Beerman teaches in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. The author of several published articles, she is interested in research that focuses on the efficacy of a novel approach to treating iron deficiency anemia in rural regions of Guatemala and Ecuador. Dr. Beerman teaches an undergraduate nutrition course for health majors, as well as a course that prepares students to participate in a 10-day medical mission to Guatemala. Since joining the faculty at Washington State University in 1990, she has been the recipient of several teaching awards (the Burlington Northern Faculty Meritorious Achievement in Teaching Award, the R.M. Wade Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction). More recently, she received the CAS Outstanding Achievement Award in International Activities (2017) and the President’s Award for Leadership (2018). Other scholarly activities include co-author of two introductory nutrition textbooks (Nutritional Sciences: From Fundamentals to Food and NUTR).