Food Security Status Is Not Associated with Increased Risk of Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Adults

Abstract

Background: It is still uncertain whether food insecurity increases the risk of metabolic syndrome. Recent reports from the United States and developing countries have shown conflicting results on this issue. This study aimed to investigate the association between food security status and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. Methods: We performed a nationwide population study using data for 18,782 adults obtained from the 2012 to 2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The 18-item Food Security Survey Module was utilized to assess household food security status. We used multiple logistic regression models to determine the association between food security status and metabolic syndrome. Results: The overall prevalence of food insecurity was 8.2% and that of metabolic syndrome was 27.3%. The prevalences of metabolic syndrome were 26.2%, 32.3%, 30.2%, and 28.8% in the high, marginal, low, and very low food security groups, respectively. Food-insecure participants (participants in the low food security and very low food security groups) were significantly more likely to be female, divorced/widowed/separated, and current smokers compared to food-secure participants. Food-insecure participants also had lower incomes, lower education attainments, and lower physical activities (P < 0.05). Compared with the high food security group, the marginal (odds ratio [OR]: 1.34, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.19-1.50, P < 0.001) and low food security groups (OR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04-1.42, P = 0.01) had increased odds of metabolic syndrome in the unadjusted models. However, after controlling for covariates, including age, sex, marital status, education attainment, household income, smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity, neither marginal food security (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.87-1.19, P = 0.86) nor low food security (aOR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.71-1.08, P = 0.22) was significantly associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: Contrary to a prior report from the United States, food security status was not significantly associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults.