Research Reveals Increasing Rates of Food Insecurity in Older Adults

New research published in the American Geriatric Society on January 5, 2021, indicates that between 2007 and 2016, limited access to nutritious foods or food insecurity due to lack of financial resources rose substantially from 5.5 percent to 12. 4 percent among older adults in the United States and such an increase was more noticeable among people with a lower wage.

The study, EurekAlert reported, which collected data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found, too, those older adults who experienced food insecurity tended to have lower quality in terms of diets.

According to Cindy Leung, ScD, MPH, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who's also co-author of the study, their results offer more evidence that food insecurity "is a serious health concern among older adults."

Leung also said, continued investment in public health programs and policies are needed to, at the same time, enhance food security and nutritional intake for older adults in the US, all of which has turned out to be more instantaneous during the present global health crisis.

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Research Found that limited access to nutritious foods or food insecurity due to lack of financial resources rose substantially from 5.5 percent to 12. 4 percent among older adults in the United States, and such an increase was more noticeable among people with lower income.

Factors that Lead to Food Insecurity

A 2018 study summary published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society presented several factors that lead to food insecurity among older adults.

These include hunger, insufficient housing, social isolation, and poverty are associated with poor health, especially as people age.

When healthcare systems and community organizations coordinate with each other, they become more efficient in addressing the said concerns both individually and as a society.

Food insecurity occurs when people lose their access to food or get hungry because of poverty or other problems. For quite some time now, food insecurity has been a serious problem for many older adults.

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A study shows that older adults who experienced food insecurity tended to have a lower quality of diets.

Older Adults 60 Years Old and Above Found to be Food Insecure

In 2019, AARP reported that in 2017, almost "5.5 million adults, aged 60 years old and above were food insecure." Meaning, they frequently felt hungry due to the fact that they were unable to afford food.

The said source also said that this report from Feeding America, an organization advocating for hunger relief that operates a network of around 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs across the nation, says, even though food insecurity for the entire population dropped from 2016 to 2017, the figure for adults older than 60 years old stayed largely the same.

Then, in 2016, there were more than five million seniors recorded who lived in hunger. According to University of Illinois professor Craig Gundersen, they know that the number of seniors will increase.

Therefore, if the rates remain the same, the number of older adults who are food insecure will be anticipated to rise in number intensely in the years ahead.

This research was based on data collected from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. In relation to the study, the poll was done in December 2017, and the information was released only in September 2019, making it the most recent data available in terms of food insecurity.

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