Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 19, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 130-137

Food Hardship and Obesity in a Sample of Low-Income Immigrants (Article)

Caspi C.E.* , Tucker-Seeley R.D. , Adamkiewicz G. , Roberto C.A. , Stoddard A.M. , Sorensen G.C.
  • a Program in Health Disparities Research, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, United States
  • b Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215, United States, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington St., Boston, MA 02215, United States
  • c Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington St., Boston, MA 02215, United States
  • d Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington St., Boston, MA 02215, United States, Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 423 Guardian Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
  • e New England Research Institute, 9 Galen St., Watertown, MA 02472, United States
  • f Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215, United States, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington St., Boston, MA 02215, United States

Abstract

Very little work has examined the relationship between food hardship (having inconsistent financial resources to buy food) and obesity among immigrant groups. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income, multi-racial/ethnic adult sample in greater Boston, MA (n = 828). Modified Poisson regression models estimated the association between food hardship obesity (BMI ≥ 30) among adults reporting food hardship; interactions were tested by place of birth. Body mass index (BMI) was based on anthropometric height and weight. In adjusted models, those experiencing food hardship were more likely to be obese (RR 1.17, CI 1.07, 1.29) than those not experiencing food hardship. Participants from Haiti reporting food hardship were more likely to be obese than those not reporting hardship (RR 1.58, CI 1.23, 2.04); this was not the case among other groups (US born, Puerto Rican, Latin American, Other). The relationship between food hardship and weight may vary among immigrant subgroups. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Immigrant Food insecurity hardship Obesity

Index Keywords

Body Weights and Measures South and Central America Latin America Massachusetts poverty human epidemiology middle aged statistics and numerical data obesity Food Supply ethnology Hispanic Americans catering service Cross-Sectional Studies Young Adult cross-sectional study migrant Humans Hispanic Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics Caribbean Region Caribbean adult body mass morphometry Body Mass Index Boston
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84957944660&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-016-0344-z&partnerID=40&md5=5e5507a732819227000b04739f68f5de
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0344-z
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English