The quality and quantity of our food intake directly impact our health. Food insecurity can negatively impact short- and long-term health in the following ways.
Adults
Adults faced with food insecurity are at higher risk for a range of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and various cardiovascular risk factors.
- Food insecurity can also be linked with lower scores on physical and mental health exams.
- Reserach suggest that adults experiening food insecure adults may have higher levels of aggression and anxiety.
Children
- Inadequate access to food during pregnancy has been shown to increase the risk for low birth weight in babies.
- Low birth weight is associated with a variety of other problems, such as a lower IQ at age 18, shorter adult height, and an increased chance of being overweight or obese.
- Children who face food insecurity may be at higher risk for chronic health conditions like anemia and asthma.
- Children in food-insecure households are almost twice as like to have high depression or anxiety than among children in food-secure households.