Food insecurity is linked to cardiometabolic disease, review finds

The review examines evidence on links between food insecurity and obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), as well as potential interventions. Across studies in adults—mainly cross-sectional—food insecurity was consistently associated with obesity, particularly among women, and with hyperlipidaemia, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and T2DM.

The authors describe several plausible pathways: food insecurity may contribute to psychological stress; limited access to nutritious food may affect visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, inflammation and the microbiome; and people may prioritize food purchases over medications used for diabetes prevention or management. Community-based healthy-lifestyle promotion, early-life nutrition and “Food as Medicine” programmes are identified as promising approaches. However, the review notes that large-scale interventions need rigorous evaluation against cardiometabolic outcomes. The largely cross-sectional evidence establishes associations, not causation, and the source provides no pooled effect estimates or intervention results supporting a change in clinical practice.