Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42296619›Full record

ArticleThe journal of nutrition, health & aging2026

The association between food insecurity and functional disability among older adults: the mediating effects of childhood and adult socioeconomic status in a ten-year follow-up longitudinal study in Ghana and South Africa.

Kofi Awuviry-Newton, Jacob Oppong Nkansah, Samuel Ampadu Oteng, Barbara Corso, Daniel Doh, Bernadette Saunders, Karen Chalton, Paul Kowal, Nestor Asiamah

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Article in The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Kofi Awuviry-NewtonDepartment of Allied Health, College of Sport, Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; African Health and Ageing Research Centre, Winneba, Central Region, Ghana; Institute of Health, Sports and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: kofi.awuviry-newton@vu.edu.au.
Jacob Oppong NkansahAfrican Health and Ageing Research Centre, Winneba, Central Region, Ghana; School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Samuel Ampadu OtengAfrican Health and Ageing Research Centre, Winneba, Central Region, Ghana; School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Barbara CorsoNeuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Padova, Italy.
Daniel DohAfrican Health and Ageing Research Centre, Winneba, Central Region, Ghana; School of Allied Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Bernadette SaundersDepartment of Allied Health, College of Sport, Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; Institute of Health, Sports and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
Karen ChaltonSchool of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Paul KowalInternational Health Transitions, Canberra, Australia, Health Data Analytics Team, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Nestor AsiamahDivision of Interdisciplinary Research and Practice, School of Health and Social Care, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study examined the association between food insecurity (FI) and functional disability (FD) among older adults over time in Ghana and South Africa (SA), and the mediating roles of childhood parental employment (CPE) and adult education (AE) statuses.

methodsData were from 6,569 and 4,663 older adults (60+years) who participated in WHO-SAGE Ghana and SA (Waves 1-3), respectively, between 2007-2019. Multivariable-adjusted logistic mixed effects models were performed to examine the roles of CPE and AE statuses on the associations between FI, in general, and its measures - hunger and food insufficiency - with FD in older adults.

resultsAfter adjusting for significant covariates, older adults who reported being food insecure (Ghana: aOR = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.03, 1.41, p = 0.024; SA: aOR = 1.98, 95%CI:1.54, 2.56, p < 0.001) and those who reported consuming insufficient food (Ghana: aOR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.03, 1.42, p = 0.018; SA: aOR = 1.96, 95%CI:1.52, 2.53, p < 0.001) had higher odds of FD over time, compared with those who were food secure. For both Ghana and SA, hunger was associated with higher odds of FD. However, the association remained statistically significant only for SA. CPE and AE statuses proved to be relevant pathways through which FI was associated with increased odds of FD among older adults in Ghana and SA.

conclusionCPE and AE statuses mediated the associations between FI and FD among older adults in Ghana and SA. This highlights the importance of adopting early--late-life interventions to support the health and economic wellbeing of families to accumulate wealth for food security and functional wellbeing in later life.

Indexed as

Food InsecurityPersons with DisabilitiesSocial ClassAgedEmploymentFemaleFollow-Up StudiesFood SupplyGhanaHumansHungerLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedSouth AfricaAdult socioeconomic statusChildhood parental employmentFood insecurityFunctional disability

Identifiers

PMID42296619
PMCPMC13285702

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.