Gender differences in the association between food insecurity and insulin resistance among U.S. adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2010

Junxiu Liu, Yong Moon Mark Park, Seth A. Berkowitz, Qingwei Hu, Kyungdo Han, Andrew Ortaglia, Robert E. McKeown, Angela D. Liese

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To examine gender-specific associations between food insecurity and insulin resistance in a representative U.S. population. Methods: Data on 5533 adults of 20years of age or more (2742 men and 2791 women) without diabetes from the 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Respondents were categorized as having full, marginal, low, or very low food security using a validated scale. Insulin-resistant individuals were defined as those with a homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance value 2.5 or more. Results: Insulin resistance was higher in both normal-weight (P=001) and overweight or obese (P<.001) women with lower food security, but no linear trend was found in men. In multiple logistic regression analyses, however, very low food security-compared with full food security-was associated with insulin resistance in normal-weight men (odds ratio, 3.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.71-9.33), and marginal food insecurity was associated with insulin resistance in overweight or obese men (odds ratio, 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-3.64) after adjusting for potential confounders. In women, the association between food insecurity and insulin resistance was no longer significant after adjustment. Conclusions: Food insecurity is associated with insulin resistance in adults without diabetes, and this effect varies by gender in normal-weight and overweight or obese populations. Improving food security status may help reduce insulin resistance, an underlying risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)643-648
Number of pages6
JournalAnnals of Epidemiology
Volume25
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Food insecurity
  • Gender difference
  • Insulin resistance
  • NHANES

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