Who is Hungry? Food Security Among Native- Born and Foreign- Born U.S. Residents: 2005-2016 Öffentlichkeit

Abstract

Abstract

Who is Hungry? Food Security Among Native- Born and Foreign- Born U.S. Residents: 2005-2016

By Bridget Katharine Walsh

Background

By determining which populations are at a high risk for food insecurity, aid programs can be tailored to improve food security outcomes.

Objectives

This thesis seeks to establish whether foreign- born individuals are at a different risk of food insecurity in the United States than native- born individuals, to explore time of residence in the United States as it correlates to food security, and to identify covariates of food insecurity in the United States.

Methods

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2005- 2016) were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to determine the correlation between both nativity and time since migrating to the United States with food security.

Results

Among the foreign-born population, 22.64% experienced low or very low food security, whereas only 16.73% of the native- born population experienced this (p < 0.0001). Nativity was not significantly associated with household food security. Time of residence in the U.S was also not significantly associated with household food security. Most notably, households receiving nutrition- based aid had 2.88 (2.32-3.60) times the odds of experiencing very low food security as those who were not receiving aid.

Conclusions

The data demonstrate that those receiving government nutrition- based assistance are still at a high risk of food insecurity, and that race, ethnicity, and education level are risk factors for food insecurity. This thesis calls for action by the U.S. federal and state governments to further study food security among U.S. residents and improve upon current nutrition- based aid programs to alleviate food insecurity among U.S. residents.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................1

2 Literature Review....................................................................................2 2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................2 2.2 Food Insecurity ........................................................................................................2 2.3 Measuring Food Insecurity...........................................................................................2 2.4 A Recent History of Food Insecurity in the United States.......................................................4 2.5 Food Insecurity and Comorbidities.................................................................................6 2.6 Demographic Trends of Food Insecurity............................................................................7

3 Study Objectives..................................................................................11

4 Data.................................................................................................12 4.1 Population.............................................................................................................12 4.2 Data Collection.......................................................................................................13 4.3 Demographic Data....................................................................................................13

4.31 Independent Variables...................................................................................14

4.32 Covariates.................................................................................................14 4.4 Food Questionnaire Data............................................................................................17 4.41 Dependent Variable......................................................................................17 4.42 Covariates.................................................................................................17

5 Methodology.......................................................................................19 5.1 Ethics...................................................................................................................19 5.2 Data Preparation......................................................................................................19

5.21 Missing Values.........................................................................................20 5.3 Descriptive Methods.................................................................................................21 5.4 Analytical Methods...................................................................................................22 5.5 Robustness Check ....................................................................................................23

6 Results..............................................................................................25 6.1 Demographic Characteristics........................................................................................25 6.2 Association Between Place of Birth and Food Insecurity.......................................................28 6.3 Covariates Correlating to Food Insecurity........................................................................30 6.4 Time in the U.S. as it Correlates to Food Insecurity.............................................................32

7 Discussion..........................................................................................34 7.1 Main Findings..........................................................................................................34 7.2 Covariates of Food Insecurity.......................................................................................35

7.3 Time in the U.S. as it Correlates to Food Insecurity............................................................38 7.4 Strengths and Limitations...........................................................................................38 7.5 Public Health Implications..........................................................................................40 7.6 Conclusion.............................................................................................................43

8 References.........................................................................................44 Appendix 1: HFIAS Questionnaire....................................................................................46 Appendix 2: CPS Food Security Survey..............................................................................47

Appendix 3: NHANES Food Security Questionnaire Variables...................................................48

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Epidemiology
Subfield / Discipline	Global Epidemiology - MPH & MSPH
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Epidemiology Sociology, Public and Social Welfare Health Sciences, Public Health
Stichwort	Food Security Native- Born Food Insecurity Foreign- Born
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Solveig Cunningham, Emory University

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