The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46706

Kristine Siefert, PhD, MPH¹, Colleen M. Heflin, MPP¹, and David Williams, PhD². (1) School of Social Work, NIMH Reseach Center on Poverty, Risk, and Mental Health, University of Michigan, 540 E. Liberty, Suite 202, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, (734) 998-8214, ksiefert@umich.edu, (2) Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St. Rm 2230, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

ABSTRACT Objectives. An inadequate household food supply has been associated with poor outcomes on mental health indicators among low-income women, but it is difficult to distinguish the mental health consequences of food insufficiency from those of its shared risk factors. We examined the relationship between household food insufficiency and women's self-reported mental health in a sample of current and recent welfare recipients over a three year period of time, controlling for common risk factors. Methods. Data were obtained from a prospective survey of African American and white women who welfare recipients in an urban Michigan county in February, 1997 (n=753). We estimated fixed effect models for change in mental health status that make use of information on household food insufficiency gathered in fall of 1997, 1998, and 1999. Results. The relationship between food insufficiency and respondents meeting the diagnostic screening criteria for major depression remained highly significant even when controlling for factors known to confer increased risk of depression and time invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Conclusions. These findings add to growing evidence that household food insufficiency has potentially serious consequences for low-income women's mental health, and suggest the need to target household food insufficiency as a modifiable risk factor for major depression in this population.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe the prevalence and correlates of household food insufficiency in the United States.
• Describe current resarch findings linking household food insufficiency with major depression in low-income women.
• Discuss alleviating household food insufficiency as a potential strategy to reduce the public health burden of depression in low-income women.

Keywords: Depression, Food Security

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.