Food Insecurity and Brain Health Risk Factors among US High School Students
Nour Hammad1, Kiran Thapa2, Harshitha Valluri3, Altaf Saadi2
1Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 3Department of Medicine, Albany Medical College
Objective:
To examine the relationship between self-reported food insecurity and seven risk factors for poor brain health in a nationally representative sample of US high school students.
Background:
Food insecurity is common among US adolescents, but its relationship to brain health risk factors remains understudied—despite adolescence being a critical period for neurodevelopment.
Design/Methods:
We pooled 2017 and 2019 data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey across 16 US states (n=74,152). Food insecurity was assessed by asking students how often they went hungry in the past 30 days due to insufficient food at home, using a 5-item Likert scale with response options: “always”, “most of the time”, “sometimes”, “rarely”, or “never”. Outcomes were seven brain health risk factors – concussion, depression, inadequate sleep, low physical activity, low fruit intake, low vegetable intake, and sugary drink consumption. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios and predicted probabilities for each outcome associated with food insecurity levels. Analyses accounted for the complex sampling design by using weights to produce nationally representative estimates.
Results:
Overall, 13% of students reported experiencing food insecurity “sometimes”, “most of the time”, or “always”. Compared to those who “never” experienced food insecurity, those who experienced food insecurity “always” had significantly higher odds of concussion (OR=3.44, 95%CI: 2.52–4.68), depression (OR=3.66, 95%CI: 2.74–4.88), and sugary drink consumption (OR=2.88, 95%CI: 2.10–3.96), and lower odds of low vegetable intake (OR=0.47, 95%CI: 0.33–0.68). Trend tests revealed that food insecurity was significantly associated with higher odds of concussion, depression, inadequate sleep, low fruit intake, and high sugary drink intake, with predicted probabilities showing a dose-dependent increase with food insecurity for most outcomes.
Conclusions:
Adolescent food insecurity is linked to multiple risk factors of poor brain health, highlighting the need for early interventions. Addressing food insecurity during adolescence may help adolescents achieve and maintain optimal brain health.
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.