Barriers to Nutrition Security in the US
Authors' conclusion
In this study among US adults, barriers to nutrition security were interrelated, varied across demographics, and were associated with disease conditions. These findings provide new insights into how barriers to healthy eating can be assessed, informing more targeted clinical, public health, and policy initiatives.
Study context
- Population
- English-speaking US adults aged ≥18 years, Qualtrics panel, February–April 2023of 3009 respondents
- Participants
- 3,000 adults
- Exposure
- Nutrition security barriers and health conditions, stratified by nutrition security status
- Outcome
- Health conditions: T2D, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke and cancer
Methodological detailspopulation-based survey, oversampling of household incomes <$50 000
- Population-based survey
- Oversampling of household incomes <$50 000
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Number of barriers (per unit increase, range 0-13) and health conditions
- Nutrition security: diabetes, AOR
- 1.10 (1.04-1.16) (95% CI)
- Nutrition security: heart disease, AOR
- 1.16 (1.07-1.24) (95% CI)
- Nutrition security: obesity, AOR
- 1.09 (1.04-1.14) (95% CI)
- Nutrition insecurity: heart disease, AOR
- 1.12 (1.03-1.22) (95% CI)
- Nutrition insecurity: stroke, AOR
- 1.12 (1.02-1.25) (95% CI)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | AOR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers by sociodemographicsBlack adultsvs White adultsTransportation barriers | 1.56 (1.17–2.08) | |
| Barriers by sociodemographicsHispanic/Latinx adultsvs non-Hispanic/LatinxNutrition assistance barriers | 1.65 (1.26–2.17) | |
| 0.512Adjusted odds ratio (log scale) |
Mean
| Outcome | Nutrition insecurity | Nutrition security |
|---|---|---|
| Number of barriers reported | 7.8 (SD 3.0) | 4.4 (SD 3.2) |
Intercorrelation and structure of barriers
- Mean (SD) intercorrelation r
- 0.45 (0.13)
- Highest correlation, insufficient time to shop and to cook, r
- 0.86
- Variance explained by 2 factors
- 61.4%
Original publication
Barriers to Nutrition Security in the US. JAMA Netw Open. Published 1 June 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →