ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2018
Food Insecurity and Mental Health among Females in High-Income Countries.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 137 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
137 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 281 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food insecurity among university students in Australia: A systematic review of prevalence, predictors, health and academic outcomes.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2026Pooled it
- Experiences of Food Insecurity During Pregnancy in High-Income Countries: A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Pooled it
- Food insecurity and mental health among migrants and refugees in high-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analyses.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Household food insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Complex intertwined association between breastfeeding practices and household food insecurity: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Focusing attention on the important association between food insecurity and psychological distress: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Community-level interventions for improving access to food in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Community-level interventions for improving access to food in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Food insecurity and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Public health nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- Food Insecurity Prevalence, Severity and Determinants in Australian Households during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Women.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Examination of Food Insecurity, Socio-Demographic, Psychosocial, and Physical Factors among Residents in Public Housing.Ethnicity & disease · 2021Trial
- Factors Associated With Stigma and Depression Among People Living With HIV and Food Insecurity in the Dominican Republic.Community health equity research & policy · 2026Article
- Association between household food insecurity and quality of life: a longitudinal study in Northeast Brazil, 2014-2019.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Exploring gender disparities in the relationship between food insecurity and depression among older adults in India.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Changes in health-related social needs and in depression and anxiety symptoms in Massachusetts low-income, community health center patients: an observational cohort study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Associations between composite dietary antioxidant index and depressive symptoms among pregnant and postpartum women.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Decomposition of racial and ethnic disparities in sleep health among US adults, NHANES from 2005-2008 and 2015-2018.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Food insecurity is associated with abdominal obesity, body roundness index, mental health, mood, and sleep-related outcomes among Iranian older adults.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Assessment of Food Insecurity, Diet Quality, and Mental Health Status Among Syrian Refugee Mothers with Young Children.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- High Prevalence of Food Insecurity and Associated Risk Factors in Chilean and Immigrant Women from South-Central Chile.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
77 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Food insecurity is a persistent concern in high-income countries, and has been associated with poor mental health, particularly among females. We conducted a scoping review to characterize the state of the evidence on food insecurity and mental health among women in high-income countries. The research databases PubMed, EMBASE, and psycINFO were searched using keywords capturing food insecurity, mental health, and women. Thirty-nine articles (representing 31 unique studies/surveys) were identified. Three-quarters of the articles drew upon data from a version of the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. A range of mental health measures were used, most commonly to measure depression and depressive symptoms, but also anxiety and stress. Most research was cross-sectional and showed associations between depression and food insecurity; longitudinal analyses suggested bidirectional relationships (with food insecurity increasing the risk of depressive symptoms or diagnosis, or depression predicting food insecurity). Several articles focused on vulnerable subgroups, such as pregnant women and mothers, women at risk of homelessness, refugees, and those who had been exposed to violence or substance abuse. Overall, this review supports a link between food insecurity and mental health (and other factors, such as housing circumstances and exposure to violence) among women in high-income countries and underscores the need for comprehensive policies and programs that recognize complex links among public health challenges.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.