Public Health Nutr

Objective:To examine the association between food insecurity and emotional eating (EE) in U.S. Latinxs and explore the mediating role of perceived stress.Design:Cross-sectional analysis. Food insecurity was measured with the 6-item CiSDA Household Food Security Scale. EE was measured with the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire R18-V2. Perceived stress was measured with Cohen\u2019s Perceived Stress Scale-10. Covariates included: age, sex, education, marital status, household size and country of birth. Mediation was tested using the Baron and Kenny method and the mediated proportion was calculated. Analyses included multivariable linear regression and multinomial logistic regression.Setting:The study was conducted in a largely Latinx city in Massachusetts. Participants were recruited from a community health center serving a large portion of this Latinx community.Subjects:Latinx individuals (n=580), ages 21-84 years.Results:Overall, 34.4% were food insecure and 33.8% experienced High EE. Food insecurity was associated with higher odds of High EE (aOR: 1.96; 95%CT 1.28-3.02) but not Low EE (aOR: 1.27; 95%CT 0.82-1.99). Food insecurity was associated with higher perceived stress (\u3b2: 5.69; 95%CT 4.20-7.19). Perceived stress was associated with High EE (aOR: 1.09; 95%CT 1.06-1.12) but not Low EE (aOR: 1.00; 95%CT 0.97-1.02). When perceived stress was added in the main effects model, food insecurity was no longer associated with High EE (OR: 1.31; 95%CI: 0.83-2.07) and explained 69.9% of the association between food insecurity and High EE.Conclusion:The association between food insecurity and high EE among Latinxs may be largely mediated by perceived stress. Longitudinal studies are needed.TL1 TR001454/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United StatesU48 DP005031/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United StatesT32 HL120823/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United StatesP60 MD006912/MD/NIMHD NIH HHS/United StatesR01 MH085653/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States2020-03-07T00:00:00Z31718732PMC70601057329vault:3489