Tayie Francis A, Zizza Claire A
Department of Human Environmental Studies, 1150 S. Washington Street, 205 Wightman Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA.
Public Health Nutr. 2009 Oct;12(10):1855-61. doi: 10.1017/S1368980009004777. Epub 2009 Feb 23.
The present study examined the associations between adult food insecurity (FI) and percentage body fat (%BF) and BMI, stratified by height (HT).
DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS: %BF, HT and BMI of 2117 men and 1909 women in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 were analysed in relation to adult food security status using multiple regression procedures.
Compared with the fully food-secure, men's %BF, BMI and HT were lower as FI intensified. Marginal food security among women was associated with 1.3 cm shorter HT, P = 0.016. Marginal food security among women who were below median HT was associated with about 2.0 kg/m2 higher BMI, P = 0.042. %BF was not associated with FI among women.
FI is associated with shorter HT and lower %BF and BMI in men. Women's HT should be considered in the reported associations between FI and higher BMI.
