ArticleAmerican journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council2020
Household water insecurity is strongly associated with food insecurity: Evidence from 27 sites in low- and middle-income countries.
Article in American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evidence on the links between water insecurity, inadequate sanitation and mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Intimate Partner Violence against Women Living in Inadequate Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Meta-Analysis of Demographic and Health Survey Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Water Insecurity is Associated with Lack of Viral Suppression and Greater Odds of AIDS-Defining Illnesses Among Adults with HIV in Western Kenya.AIDS and behavior · 2022Trial
- Household Water and Food Insecurity Are Positively Associated with Poor Mental and Physical Health among Adults Living with HIV in Western Kenya.The Journal of nutrition · 2021Trial
- Dual Burden of Food and Water Insecurity Among SNAP Households with Children in the Southern United States.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Monsoon Flooding and Undernutrition Among Children in Bangladesh: A Population-Level Analysis of the 2017 Monsoon Flood.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- Psychosocial stressors related to extreme weather events and multiple resource insecurities: qualitative insights from refugee youth in an Ugandan humanitarian setting.SSM. Mental health · 2026Article
- Poor Water Quality and Food Insecurity in Ecuador: Disparities in Exposure and Associations With Young Child Feeding Practices.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- A lack of clean drinking water is associated with lacking food and experiencing food safety threats in 121 countries across the globe.Nature food · 2026Article
- Associations Between Extreme Weather Events, Resource Insecurities, and HIV Vulnerabilities Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Kenya: Latent Profile Analysis Findings.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Water and nutrition in a rapidly changing world: Introduction to the special issue.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- Associations between Water Supply Interruptions and Water Use, Drinking Water Quality, Child Health, and Caregiver Stress in Peri-Urban Malawi.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- The prospective relationship between uptake of earned income tax credit (EITC), financial strain, and health in socio-economically strained families of Arab-American descent.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Implications of water insecurity for food practices and health in contexts of migration and displacement: evidence from the US-Mexico borderlands.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Associations between water insecurity and reproductive health outcomes among adolescent girls and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Characterizing Water Insecurity Among US College Students: Prevalence, Scope and Linkages With Food Insecurity.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of food insecurity during pregnancy: a multicenter survey in French Guiana.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Interacting Water Insecurity and Food Insecurity: Recent Advances in Theory and Application.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Food and Water Insecurity and Functional Disability in Adults.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Household water security is a mediator of household food security in a nationally representative sample of Mexico.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesFood and water insecurity have both been demonstrated as acute and chronic stressors and undermine human health and development. A basic untested proposition is that they chronically coexist, and that household water insecurity is a fundamental driver of household food insecurity.
methodsWe provide a preliminary assessment of their association using cross-sectional data from 27 sites with highly diverse forms of water insecurity in 21 low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas (N = 6691 households). Household food insecurity and its subdomains (food quantity, food quality, and anxiety around food) were estimated using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale; water insecurity and subdomains (quantity, quality, and opportunity costs) were estimated based on similar self-reported data.
resultsIn multilevel generalized linear mixed-effect modeling (GLMM), composite water insecurity scores were associated with higher scores for all subdomains of food insecurity. Rural households were better buffered against water insecurity effects on food quantity and urban ones for food quality. Similarly, higher scores for all subdomains of water insecurity were associated with greater household food insecurity.
conclusionsConsidering the diversity of sites included in the modeling, the patterning supports a basic theory: household water insecurity chronically coexists with household food insecurity. Water insecurity is a more plausible driver of food insecurity than the converse. These findings directly challenge development practices in which household food security interventions are often enacted discretely from water security ones.
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