title: Food Insecurity and Eating Behavior Relationships Among Congregate Meal Participants in Georgia.
abstract: This study explored relationships of food insecurity with cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating behaviors among congregate meal participants in northeast Georgia [n = 118 years, age 60 years and older, mean (SD) age = 75 ( 8 ) years, 75% female, 43% Black, 53% obese (Body Mass Index ≥ 30)]. Food insecurity was assessed with a 6-item questionnaire. Scores ranged from 0 to 6 and were defined as high or marginal food security, FS, 0-1 (70%); low food security, LFS, 2-4 (20%); very low food security, VLFS, 5-6 (10%); and low and very low food security, LVLFS, 2-6 (30%). Eating behavior was assessed with an 18-item Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire R-18. In bivariate analyses food insecurity was consistently associated with cognitive restraint scores above the median split and to a lesser extent with uncontrolled eating scores (p ≤ 0.05). No association was found between emotional eating and food insecurity. In multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses, food insecurity was consistently associated with cognitive restraint (p ≤ 0.05) even when controlled for potential confounders (demographics, Body Mass Index, and chronic diseases). Food insecurity was also associated with uncontrolled eating (p ≤ 0.05), but the relationship was attenuated when controlled for potential confounding variables. Although cognitive restraint is defined as the conscious restriction of food intake to control body weight or promote weight loss, these findings suggest there may be other dimensions of cognitive restraint to consider in nutritional assessment and interventions among food-insecure older adults.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: TaMara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Myles
authors.affiliation: b Department of Geriatrics, Duke University Medical Center , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Porter Starr
authors.affiliation: a Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Kristen B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: a Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Jung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun Lee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Joan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Gerontology and Department of Foods and Nutrition , University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ann Johnson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D008875:Middle Aged; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American
keywords: Food insecurity; Older Americans Act Nutrition Program; congregate meal program; eating behaviors; older adults; senior centers