Relationship Between Diet Quality, Body Weight and Food Insecurity Among Low-Income Women at Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Their Children

Abstract

Food insecurity—the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food—affects one in six U.S. households. National data suggest disproportionately higher rates of food insecurity among those living in poverty, rurally, or who identify as racial/ethnic minorities. Food insecure individuals adopt coping strategies which favors the consumption of inexpensive, ultra-processed foods that are calorie-dense and nutrient-scarce, ultimately contributing to low diet quality. Low diet quality and food insecurity independently are associated with increased risk and prevalence of obesity and diet-related diseases, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Understanding the direction, magnitude, and clinical significance of relationships between diet quality, food insecurity, and T2DM risk factors are critical to effectively intervening on dietary intake, and diet-sensitive disease. These relationships were characterized with baseline data from a study sample comprised of low-income women at risk of T2DM, and their children, 8-12-years-old, recruited from El Rio Community Health Center to participate in a randomized controlled trial (EPIC El Rio Families) testing the effects of a behavioral lifestyle intervention on type 2 diabetes risk factors. Results will be presented at the level of the household, and the individual (mothers and children), and the public health implications of this work discussed.