Food insecurity and emotional health in the USA: A systematic narrative review of longitudinal research

Bruening et al. (2017) conducted a systematic search for relevant literature on the longitudinal association between food insecurity and emotional well-being. The aim of this review was to determine the causal relationship between food insecurity and emotional health among US-based populations. Twelve out of the 4161 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria. Three of these studies analyzed the impact of emotional health on food insecurity, while five examined the effect of food insecurity on emotional well-being, and four studies investigated a bidirectional relationship. The majority of studies (83%) positively associated negative emotional well-being with food insecurity over time. Although additional studies are required, these observations suggest a bidirectional relationship whereby food insecurity raises the risk of poor emotional health, and poor emotional well-being elevates the risk of food insecurity. [NPID: food insecurity, mental health, emotional well-being, bidirectional relationship]

Year: 2017

Reference: Bruening, M., Dinour, L. M., & Chavez, J. (2017). Food insecurity and emotional health in the USA: a systematic narrative review of longitudinal research. Public health nutrition, 20(17), 3200–3208. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017002221

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