title: Food Insecurity, Hunger, and Obesity Among Informal Caregivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing numbers of US residents rely on informal caregiving from friends and family members. Caregiving can have substantial health and financial impacts on caregivers. This study addressed whether those impacts include adverse nutritional states. Specifically, we examined household food insecurity, individual hunger, and obesity among caregivers compared with noncaregivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from Oregon. The Caregiving Module was administered to a random subset of 2,872 respondents. Module respondents included 2,278 noncaregivers and 594 caregivers providing care or assistance to a friend or family member with a health problem or disability. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between caregiving status and each of our dependent variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregivers had significantly greater odds of reporting household food insecurity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10, P = .003) and personal hunger (OR = 2.89, P = .002), even after controlling for income and other correlates of food insecurity. There were no significant differences in obesity between caregivers and noncaregivers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caregiving is associated with increased risk of food insecurity and hunger in Oregon, suggesting that careful attention to the nutritional profile of households with family caregivers is needed in this population.
authors.affiliation: Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, 707 SW Gaines St, Portland, OR 97239. Email: hornerjo@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: Willi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Horner-Johnson
authors.affiliation: Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dobbertin
authors.affiliation: Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Sheetal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kulkarni-Rajasekhara
authors.affiliation: Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beilstein-Wedel
authors.affiliation: Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Andresen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D040361:Healthy People Programs; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult