Food Insecurity and COVID-19 Diagnosis: Findings from a National United States Sample

ABSTRACT

This study explores the association between experiencing food insecurity and COVID-19 diagnosis in the United States, and what sociodemographic characteristics moderate this relationship. We analyzed a national sample of adults in the United States (n = 6,475). Multiple logistic regression results revealed respondents experiencing food insecurity had an approximately 3.0 times significantly higher odds of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] = 2.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.38–6.32, p < 0.01), which remained significant after adjusting for sociodemographics and COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.09–6.18, p < 0.05). Age group had a significant moderating effect (OR = 42.55, 95% CI = 3.13–579.15, p < 0.01). Results indicate experiencing food insecurity is associated with contracting COVID-19.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus
• COVID
• food insecurity
• inequalities
• pandemic
• prevention
• infectious disease
• public health
• epidemiology
• age

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to study conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of manuscript, and critical revisions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics Approval Statement

This study was deemed exempt by the SUNY Upstate Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are publicly available through the COVID Impact Survey website: https://www.covid-impact.org/results.