| Popis: |
Though food insecurity has been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity, less is known about the potential mechanistic role of negative affect, diet quality, and CVD risk factors. Additionally, previous studies have not examined race differences in these associations. The present study examined race differences in the associations among food insecurity, negative affect, diet quality, and CVD risk factors using cross-sectional data from a racially- and socioceonomcially-diverse community sample in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS) study in Baltimore, MD. Participants (n=2,193) filled out surveys to collect information about their food insecurity status, nutrition intake, and mental health, and also underwent laboratory tests to assess their cardiovascular health. Separate regression models examined the interaction of race and food insecurity in predicting negative affect, diet quality, and CVD risk factors, including: systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), total serum cholesterol (TSC), low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, HDL-C), triglycerides, glucose, and body mass index (BMI). Regression models included adjustment for age, sex, poverty status, education, single parent status, alcohol and drug use, and disease comorbidity (cancer, inflammatory, metabolic, and neurological). Additionally, the CVD risk factor models included relevant prescription drug use. The regression models showed that although both Blacks and Whites experienced higher negative affectivity with greater severity of food insecurity, Whites experienced lower diet quality associated with food insecurity than Blacks. Additionally, greater severity of food insecurity was associated with higher HDL-C and lower triglycerides for Blacks, but lower HDL-C and higher triglycerides in Whites. There was also an association between greater severity of food insecurity and higher BMI in Blacks only. These findings suggest that food insecurity may have detrimental impacts on negative affectivity for both races, but more substantial impacts on diet quality and CVD risk for Whites than for Blacks. These findings highlight the importance of race in moderating the biopsychosocial impacts of food insecurity on mental and physical health. Due to the recent increase in food insecurity rates across the country due to the Great Recession, these findings suggest that in order to mitigate deleterious public health consequences, there is a need for both primary prevention strategies that target food insecurity and secondary prevention strategies that target negative affectivity, diet quality, and CVD risk. |
