{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04753722794959908, 'fraction_numerical': 0.04066437571592211, 'mean_word_length': 5.151408450704225, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 3, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Associations of food security and weight, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999‐2002

Statistical associations between excess body weight and food insecurity or food inadequacy have been found in a number of analyses. To further explore this apparent paradox, we examined associations between food security and Body Mass Index (BMI) using NHANES 1999‐2002 data. Adults were classified as fully food secure, marginally food secure, food insecure without hunger, or food insecure with hunger using both the Adult (AFSI) and the Household (HFSI) food security indicator, derived from the US Food Security Survey Module (FSSM). BMI (kg/m2) was calculated using measured height and weight and categorized as underweight <18.5; normal weight 18.5 ‐ <25; overweight 25 ‐ <30; obese 30+. Overall, 82% of obese adults were food secure, compared with 86% of normal and of overweight adults. Using multinomial logistic regression and the fully food secure as the reference group, the association of BMI and food security was statistically significant only for obesity with marginal food security: 1.72 (1.34‐2.22) using AFSI; 1.63 (1.21‐2.20) using HFSI. Other associations observed included overweight with food insecurity with hunger 1.34 (0.99‐1.82) as well as underweight with food insecurity with hunger 2.26 (1.00‐5.09) using AFSI. The association of food security status and BMI varied by some socio‐demographic variables (e.g. race, gender, income, age). Analyses that include the marginal food security category, four BMI levels, and socio‐demographic covariates in stratified and multivariable analyses and that use both the AFSI and HFSI can further our understanding of the associations between food security and weight.