Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Center for Advancing Population Science, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Public Health Nutr. 2021 Dec;24(17):5869-5876. doi: 10.1017/S1368980021003554. Epub 2021 Aug 19.
Understanding food insecurity and its health consequences is important for identifying strategies to best target support for individuals and communities. Given the limited information that exists for indigenous groups in Latin America, this study aimed to understand the association between food insecurity and mental health in an indigenous population in Panama.
Cross-sectional data were collected using a survey conducted with Kuna Indians residing off the coast of Panama. Data sources included measures from the Panamanian prevalence of risk factors associated with CVD survey, and validated measures for psychosocial factors and standardised health outcome measures. Regression models with each of the mental health outcomes (depression, serious psychological distress, perceived stress) were used to examine the association between food insecurity and mental health outcomes.
Indigenous Kuna community residing on the San Blas Islands of Panama.
Two-hundred nine adults.
Food insecurity was reported by 83 % of the participants. Across demographic categories, the only significant difference was by age with higher prevalence in younger ages. After adjusting for demographics, higher food insecurity was significantly associated with higher number of depressive symptoms and more serious psychological distress, but not with levels of perceived stress.
Based on these findings, treatment for mental health in the Kuna community may need to account for social determinants of health and be tailored to meet the needs of younger age groups in this population. In addition, interventions designed to decrease food insecurity should be considered as a possible means for improving mental health.
了解粮食不安全及其对健康的影响对于确定针对个人和社区的最佳支持策略非常重要。鉴于拉丁美洲原住民群体的信息有限，本研究旨在了解巴拿马一个原住民群体中粮食不安全与心理健康之间的关联。
使用在巴拿马沿海居住的库纳印第安人进行的调查收集了横断面数据。数据来源包括巴拿马心血管疾病风险因素流行情况调查的测量指标，以及用于心理社会因素和标准化健康结果测量的经过验证的测量指标。使用每个心理健康结果（抑郁、严重心理困扰、感知压力）的回归模型来检验粮食不安全与心理健康结果之间的关联。
居住在巴拿马圣布拉斯群岛的原住民库纳社区。
209 名成年人。
83%的参与者报告粮食不安全。在各个人口统计类别中，唯一显著的差异是年龄，年轻人的患病率更高。在调整人口统计学因素后，粮食不安全程度越高，抑郁症状越多，严重心理困扰越严重，但与感知压力水平无关。
基于这些发现，库纳社区的心理健康治疗可能需要考虑健康的社会决定因素，并针对该人群中的年轻年龄组的需求进行调整。此外，应考虑减少粮食不安全的干预措施，作为改善心理健康的一种可能手段。
