Hyun Kim, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association between food insecurity, sleep hours, and physical activity among the working-age population.
Methods: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the food insecurity and health behaviors of adults using a combination of two 2-year cycles of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2017–2020) data. Study sample of adults aged 18-64 years was used to examine the association of food insecurity on health behaviors such as sleep duration and physical activity. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate sleep quantity and physical activity by food insecurity and full-time employment status, adjusting for sociodemographic variables.
Results: Food insecurity was negatively associated with adherence to physical activity among working population. Food-insecure adults were less likely to follow physical activity recommendation than food-secure adults. This result led to sleep quantity in which food-secure adults with full-time employment status had shorter duration of sleep hours on weekdays/workdays than food-insecure adults. Those adults without full-time employment status were likely to have shorter duration of sleep hours due to their non-traditional work schedule.
Conclusions: Educating people on the long-term effects from lack of proper nutrition can help them avoid negative health consequences such as chronic conditions and will help improve overall health status. Food insecurity poses the threat of less sleep and less physical activity for the working-age adults, it is suggested that both sleep hours and physical activity should be considered when describing and investigating the connection between food insecurity and public health of the population. This can help them to better understand the association to how food insecurity affects their sleep hours and physical activity which can then lead to positive changes to overall health status.
