Association of Household Food Insecurity with the Mental and Physical Health of Low-Income Urban Ecuadorian Women with Children

Abstract

Chronic physical and mental health conditions account for a rising proportion of morbidity, mortality, and disability in the Americas region. Household food insecurity (HFI) has been linked to chronic disease in US and Canadian women but it is uncertain if the same is true for low- and middle-income Latin American countries in epidemiologic transition. We conducted a survey to investigate the association of HFI with the physical and mental health of 794 women with children living in low-income Quito, Ecuador, neighborhoods. Data were collected on HFI and health indicators including self-reported health (SF-1), mental health (MHI-5), blood pressure, and self-reported mental and physical health complaints. Fasting blood glucose and lipids were measured in a subsample. The multivariate analyses revealed that HFI was associated with poorer self-rated health, low MHI-5 scores, and mental health complaints including stress, depression, and ethnospecific illnesses. It was also associated with chest tightness/discomfort/pain, dental disease, and gastrointestinal illness but not other conditions. The findings suggest that improving food security in low-income households may help reduce the burden of mental distress in women with children. The hypothesized link with diabetes and hypertension may become more apparent as Ecuador moves further along in the epidemiologic transition.

Food insecurity among women of reproductive age in Nepal: prevalence and correlates

“…In Mexico, women of reproductive age from food insecure households were more likely to experience anemia and be overweight due to malnutrition [19]. In Quito, Ecuador women with children from food insecure homes reported poorer self-rated health and higher mental health problems, including stress and depression [20]. In northwest Ethiopia, HFI was associated with undernutrition in mothers with children under five years of age [21].…”

Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence

“…Physical health problems occurring in residents of households with food insecurity include obesity/overweight due to overconsumption of low-cost, high-energy foods (20), hypertension and diabetes (21). Mental health problems include depression (13,22,23) and anxiety or psychological distress (24,25). Families living with food insecurity also commonly experience feelings of shame, failure, desperation or being unfairly judged by others (25)(26)(27)(28).…”

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

“…HFI may also contribute to the dual burden by increasing undernutrition and infectious morbidity in children and adults. HFI, for example, was associated with a greater risk of illness, anemia and low height for age z‐score in Nicaraguan children (Schmeer & Piperata, ) and undernutrition in urban Ecuadorian women (Weigel, Armijos, Racines, Cevallos, & Castro, ). While less research has looked at the association between HFI and other markers of the dual burden beyond overweight and stunting, mild HFI has been associated with type 2 diabetes and hypertension in Mexican women (Pérez‐Escamilla, Villalpando, Shamah‐Levy, & Méndez‐Gómez Humarán, ), though not in Ecuadorian women living in Quito (Weigel, Armijos, Racines, & Cevallos, ).…”

“…Interestingly, place of birth, our measure of migration status, was also associated with the dual burden. Work in urban Quito found that those who had lived in the study neighborhood for more than half of their lives were less likely to suffer from HFI, suggesting that social networks may serve as an important buffer (Weigel, Armijos, Racines, Cevallos, & Castro, ). Similarly, qualitative work in the Galápagos found that recent migrants to the islands were more likely to be food insecure and proposed that recent migrants may be less able to afford or less exposed to the Western foods available on the island (Pera, Katz, & Bentley, ).…”

“…While less research has examined the potential role of HFI in shaping the dual burden of malnutrition (Jones et al, ; Jones, Mundo‐Rosas, Cantoral, & Levy, ), HFI may be particularly important in this context, shaping both food choice and psychological responses to perceived threats of food shortages in ways that may increase the development of obesity and NCD (Seligman, Laraia, & Kushel, ). Studies of HFI in LAC suggest that mild‐moderate episodic or cyclical food insecurity is associated with poorer diet quality thorough reduced diversity, less frequent consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat, and fish (Weigel & Armijos, ), foods which tend to be more costly, and higher consumption of processed foods (Weigel, Armijos, Racines, Cevallos, & Castro, ).…”