Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 Jun;119(6):1475-1484. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.03.020. Epub 2024 May 13.
Food insecurity, lack of access to sufficient food for an active, healthy life, is a persistent problem in the United States. Recently, nutrition security has emerged as a new concept. However, limited research exists examining how nutrition security relates to the established concept of food security.
This study assessed a recent metric of nutrition security and explored how well it describes the underlying construct among a sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. We examined the correlation between food and nutrition security and demographic predictors of joint food and nutrition security status.
We conducted a national, web-based survey (Qualtrics; 30 September-19 October, 2022) in English and Spanish of adults aged ≥18 y (n = 1454) who reported receiving SNAP benefits in the past 12 mo. We measured food security using the US Department of Agriculture 6-item Food Security Survey and assessed nutrition security using the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Household Nutrition Security measure. We used multinominal logistic regression to examine demographic predictors of food and nutrition security.
The majority (80.4%) of SNAP participants experienced food insecurity, and 59.1% reported experiencing nutrition insecurity. Food and nutrition security were moderately correlated (0.41); 55.6% of SNAP participants were both food and nutrition insecure, 3.5% were food secure but nutrition insecure, 24.8% were food insecure but nutrition secure, and 16.1% were both food and nutrition secure. Of SNAP participants, 24.8% reported experiencing food insecurity but not nutrition insecurity. Hispanic ethnicity and Southern residence were associated with joint food and nutrition insecurity.
These findings raise questions about how nutrition security is conceptualized and measured and its added value beyond existing food security measurement scales. Further research is needed to understand differences in food and nutrition security experiences and risk factors and determine a validated definition and measure of nutrition security for future policy solutions.
在美国，食物不安全，即无法获得充足的食物来维持积极健康的生活，是一个长期存在的问题。最近，营养安全已成为一个新概念。然而，目前关于营养安全如何与既定的食物安全概念相关的研究有限。
本研究评估了最近的营养安全度量标准，并探讨了其在补充营养援助计划（SNAP）参与者样本中描述潜在结构的程度。我们检验了食物和营养安全之间的相关性，以及联合食物和营养安全状况的人口统计学预测因子。
我们在英语和西班牙语中进行了一项全国性的网络调查（Qualtrics；2022 年 9 月 30 日至 10 月 19 日），调查了过去 12 个月内报告接受 SNAP 福利的 18 岁及以上成年人（n=1454）。我们使用美国农业部的 6 项食物安全调查评估食物安全，使用格雷琴·斯旺森营养中心家庭营养安全衡量标准评估营养安全。我们使用多项逻辑回归检验人口统计学预测因子与食物和营养安全的关系。
大多数（80.4%）SNAP 参与者经历了食物不安全，59.1%报告经历了营养不安全。食物和营养安全中度相关（0.41）；55.6%的 SNAP 参与者同时存在食物和营养不安全，3.5%的参与者食物安全但营养不安全，24.8%的参与者食物不安全但营养安全，16.1%的参与者同时存在食物和营养安全。在 SNAP 参与者中，24.8%的参与者报告经历了食物不安全但营养安全。西班牙裔和南部居住与同时存在食物和营养不安全相关。
这些发现引发了关于如何概念化和衡量营养安全以及其在现有食物安全衡量尺度之外的附加价值的问题。需要进一步研究以了解食物和营养安全体验和风险因素的差异，并确定营养安全的有效定义和衡量标准，以制定未来的政策解决方案。
