Food insecurity and associated depression among older adults in India: evidence from a population-based study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to examine the associations of several indicators of food insecurity with depression among older adults in India.DesignA cross-sectional study was conducted using country-representative survey data.Setting and participantsThe present study uses data of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India conducted during 2017–2018. The effective sample size for the present study was 31 464 older adults aged 60 years and above.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe outcome variable was major depression among older adults. Descriptive statistics along with bivariate analysis was presented. Additionally, binary logistic regression analysis was used to establish the association between the depression and food security factors along with other covariates.ResultsThe overall prevalence of major depression was 8.4% among older adults in India. A proportion of 6.3% of the older adults reduced the size of meals, 40% reported that they did not eat enough food of their choice, 5.6% mentioned that they were hungry but did not eat, 4.2% reported that they did not eat for a whole day and 5.6% think that they have lost weight due to lack of enough food in the household. Older adults who reported to have reduced the size of meals due to lack of enough food (adjusted OR (AOR): 1.76, CI 1.44 to 2.15) were hungry but did not eat (AOR: 1.35, CI 1.06 to 1.72) did not eat food for a whole day (AOR: 1.33; CI 1.03 to 1.71), lost weight due to lack of food (AOR: 1.57; CI 1.30 to1.89) had higher odds of being depressed in reference to their respective counterparts.ConclusionThe findings suggest that self-reported food insecurity indicators were strongly associated with major depression among older Indian adults. The national food security programmes should be enhanced as an effort to improve mental health status and quality of life among older population.

Loneliness Among Older Indian Workers: Findings From the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India

“…Our findings align with previous research indicating higher levels of loneliness among those who are more deprived (Madani et al, 2022) and those who perceive themselves as being less well-off when compared with others (Ayalon, 2019). Our analysis also demonstrated that food security persists as an issue among older Indians who work, with proportions of those reporting food insecurity comparable to those in all over-60s (Muhammad et al, 2022b). Previous research using the LASI data has indicated that measures of food security are associated with measures of depression (Muhammad et al, 2022b;Patel et al, 2022), cognitive function (Kumar et al, 2021), and frailty (Muhammad et al, 2022a) in later life.…”

“…Our analysis also demonstrated that food security persists as an issue among older Indians who work, with proportions of those reporting food insecurity comparable to those in all over-60s (Muhammad et al, 2022b). Previous research using the LASI data has indicated that measures of food security are associated with measures of depression (Muhammad et al, 2022b;Patel et al, 2022), cognitive function (Kumar et al, 2021), and frailty (Muhammad et al, 2022a) in later life. In our analysis, we find that a lack of food choice and a lack of food availability, including weight loss due to inadequate food consumption are associated with greater feelings of loneliness among those who work.…”

“…These items are adapted from the US Household Food Security Module, with validity and reliability established in Indian settings (Sethi et al, 2017). As the scale was not included in its entirety in the LASI study, individual items were analyzed here (e.g., Muhammad et al, 2022b;Srivastava & Muhammad, 2022). A simple summed score was also calculated, where a response of yes was given a score of 1 while no was given a score of 0.…”

The impact of food insecurity on mental health among older adults residing in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

“…Among the studies, six considered older adults to be 50 and above [ 43 , 44 , 46 , 49 – 51 ]. Four studies focused solely on adults aged 60 and [ 45 , 47 , 48 , 53 ]. In contrast, the rest of the studies included in the review had participants aged 65 and above [ 52 , 54 ].…”

“…One study used only the latter question for food insecurity [ 43 ]. Two studies used responses to a 5-item questionnaire on food security adapted from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India survey as their food insecurity outcome [ 45 , 53 ]. The study based in Brazil used the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale [ 47 ].…”