Correlates of food insecurity among Latinos in North Carolina

Food insecurity is a condition that exists when there is an uncertain ability to obtain enough nutritious food for a healthy life due to a lack of resources. Latino households experience a high rate of food insecurity. The seriousness of this is particularly relevant for states with a burgeoning Latino population, such as North Carolina. Little data is available on this new immigrant population in North Carolina, with even fewer studies specifically examining food insecurity. In order to effectively address this condition there is a need to better understand the factors associated with food insecurity. 179 adult Latino customers were surveyed at four food stores located in central North Carolina as part of an environmental change intervention. Correlation and multivariate linear regression analysis were conducted to examine the relationship between food insecurity and demographic, socioeconomic, acculturative, perceived health status, and subjective social status. Results demonstrate that education was significantly associated with food insecurity, specifically those with 8 or less years of education had greater food insecurity than those with more education. Results also demonstrate that those with low perceived subjective socioeconomic status were more likely to be food insecure. Health status was also associated with food insecurity, whereby those who rated their health as “very good-excellent” had greater food insecurity than those who rated their health as “good”. No association was found between food insecurity and the other variables of interest. These results allude to the real and perceived social disparities that are associated with the ability to exercise basic human rights such as food access. Future studies are needed to better understand food insecurity particularly within a theoretical framework in order to develop public health strategies and health policy that can ameliorate this unjust social condition.