title: Food insecurity, a determinant of obesity? - an analysis from a population-based survey in the Paris metropolitan area, 2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relationship between food insecurity and obesity is discussed in the literature. The objective of this study was to determine whether food insecurity and obesity were associated in the Paris metropolitan area.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from third wave of the Health, Inequalities and Social Ruptures (SIRS) cohort study, a longitudinal population-based, representative health and socioepidemiological survey of the general population in the Paris metropolitan area. The participants' BMI (calculated using self-reported height and weight) was analyzed as a continuous variable, and a dichotomous variable (BMI < 30 kg/m(2)/BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) was constructed. Food insecurity was estimated using the Household Food Security Scale Module (HFSSM) and was treated as a trichotomous variable (food security / low food security / very low food security). Multilevel models were estimated for men and women separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) prevalence was 10.2%. The determinant of obesity differs according to gender. After adjustment for age, income and the sociooccupational group, very low food security was associated with obesity in women (OR = 2.01, 95%CI 1.05-3.82), and women with very low food security had a higher BMI (Coef. = 1.78, 95% CI 0.24-3.31). This association, however, was not significant for men (OR = 1.84, 95%CI 0.64-5.30).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In times of economic crisis, it is increasingly essential to explore and understand the pathway through which very low food security is linked to obesity.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR_S 1136, Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Social Epidemiology, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martin-Fernandez
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caillavet
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lhuissier
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chauvin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010297:Paris; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult