The Relationship Between Food Insecurity and Mental Health

Abstract

Food security is a complex phenomenon that entails the availability, affordability, and obtaining of nutrients in acceptable ways, and encompasses cultural norms and individual food use. Although advances in global food production, approximately 928 million people worldwide are without food security. Food insecurity is associated with many nutritional and physical health problems such as malnutrition, anemia, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. However, it seems closely related to mental health through its different dimensions. It is not surprising that food insecurity is associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes, given the factors that affect food security, such as socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. Research evaluating the relationship between food insecurity and mental health is limited in the literature. However, the results of the research are contradictory. This study aims to examine the relationship between food insecurity and mental health problems in line with the current literature.