ArticlePublic health nutrition2025
Food insecurity is associated with poor mental health outcomes among a diverse sample of young adults.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Roll-Out Implementation Optimization (ROIO) trial to develop and test the implementation of a food security screening and referral process: a study protocol.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Food Insecurity in Individuals with Eating Disorders: A UK-Wide Survey of Impact, Help-Seeking, and Suggestions for Guidance.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Socio-Demographic Correlates of Basic Food Needs: A Maslow's Hierarchy Analysis.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveYoung adulthood is a transitional period between childhood and adulthood characterised by unique stressors that increase the risk of food insecurity and poor mental health. This study examined the association between food insecurity and mental health outcomes among U.S. young adults aged 18-25.
designA cross-sectional survey was completed by young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 years between January and April 2022. Key measures included food insecurity, perceived stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and insomnia. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were used to determine the prevalence of and associations between food insecurity and mental health outcomes, controlling for key demographic and social factors.
settingOnline survey.
participants1630 U.S. young adults.
resultsAmong the analytic sample of 1041 young adults, nearly 70 % of participants identified as being food insecure in the last year. Participants reported moderate to high levels of perceived stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and insomnia. Food insecurity was positively associated with each mental health outcome including perceived stress (
conclusionFood insecurity is associated with mental health problems among young adults. Future efforts should explore the directionality of this relationship to determine if food insecurity initiates or exacerbates poor mental health outcomes or if poor mental health contributes to food insecurity. Interventions to improve food security status may also help support mental health among young adults.
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