Table 1.
Describing depression, food insecurity and lack of diet diversity among low-income adults in the USA
| Unweighted sample sizes‡ | Weighted percentages | Weighted percentages | Weighted means | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-depressed (PHQ-9 < 10)* | Depressed (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) | Statistical significance§ | Food secure (Score 0–2) | Food insecure (Score 3–10) | Statistical significance§ | Lack of diet diversity† (1-US HFD) | Statistical significance§ | |||||||
| % | 95 % CI | % | 95 % CI | % | 95 % CI | % | 95 % CI | Mean | se | |||||
| Total n 2636‖ | 88·2 | 86·2, 89·9 | 11·8 | 10·1, 13·8 | 73·5 | 69·1, 77·4 | 26·5 | 22·6, 30·9 | 0·673 | 0 003 | ||||
| Mean age: 18–80 years¶ | 2636 | t-statistic = –3·66; P = 0·002 | t-statistic = 6·49; P < 0·001 | 44·9 | t-statistic = –2·43; P = 0·028 | |||||||||
| Mean | 44·3 | 50·1 | 46·3 | 41·3 | ||||||||||
| se | 0·80 | 1·33 | 0·68 | 0·85 | ||||||||||
| Sex | F (1,15) = 11·80; P = 0·004 | F (1, 15) = 1·93; P = 0·185 | t-statistic = 2·42; P = 0·028 | |||||||||||
| Males | 1193 | 90·8 | 87·9, 93·0 | 7·0, 12·1 | 75·8 | 69·5, 81·1 | 24·2 | 18·9, 30·5 | 0·678 | 0·003 | ||||
| Females | 1443 | 85·9 | 83·6, 87·9 | 14·1 | 12·1, 16·4 | 71·4 | 66·3, 76·0 | 28·6 | 24·0, 33·7 | 0·668 | 0·003 | |||
| Race/ethnicity | F (3·35,50·31) = 3·69; P = 0·015 | F (3·49,52·40) = 3·01; P = 0·031 | t-statistic = 3·39; P = 0·004 | |||||||||||
| Mexican American | 438 | 92·5 | 90·2, 94·3 | 7·5 | 5·7, 9·8 | 64·4 | 55·5, 72·3 | 35·6 | 27·7, 44·5 | 0·669 | 0·003 | |||
| Other Hispanic | 267 | 87·3 | 81·2, 91·6 | 12·7 | 8·4, 18·8 | 66·1 | 54·6, 75·9 | 33·9 | 24·1, 45·4 | 0·672 | 0·008 | |||
| Non-Hispanic White | 1088 | 87·1 | 84·1, 89·7 | 12·9 | 10·3, 15·9 | 76·3 | 69·6, 82·0 | 23·7 | 18·0, 30·4 | 0·667 | 0·004 | |||
| Non-Hispanic Black | 595 | 88·9 | 86·3, 91·0 | 11·1 | 9·0, 13·7 | 72·4 | 66·5, 77·6 | 27·6 | 22·4, 33·5 | 0·695 | 0·003 | |||
| Non-Hispanic Asian | 158 | 95·6 | 86·9, 98·6 | 4·4 | 1·4, 13·1 | 87·3 | 73·7, 94·3 | 12·7 | 5·7, 26·3 | 0·686 | 0·004 | |||
| Other Race – including multi-racial | 158 | 79·9 | 65·2, 89·4 | 20·1 | 10·6, 34·8 | 68·4 | 52·3, 81·0 | 31·6 | 19·0, 47·7 | 0·669 | 0·009 | |||
| BMI | F (3·16,47·42) = 5·45; P = 0·002 | F (3·44, 51·58) = 2·64; P = 0·050 | t-statistic = 1·68; P = 0·114 | |||||||||||
| Underweight (BMI < 18·5 kg/m2) | 56 | 93·2 | 81·3, 97·7 | 6·8 | 2·3, 18·7 | 73·9 | 54·7, 86·9 | 26·1 | 13·1, 45·3 | 0·649 | 0·014 | |||
| Healthy weight (BMI 18·5 ≤ 24·9 kg/m2) | 692 | 89·9 | 86·3, 92·7 | 10·1 | 7·3, 13·7 | 72·0 | 65·3, 77·8 | 28·0 | 22·2, 34·7 | 0·674 | 0·004 | |||
| Overweight (BMI 25·0 ≤ 29·9 kg/m2) | 778 | 92·0 | 88·1, 94·8 | 8·0 | 5·2, 11·9 | 77·9 | 71·8, 82·9 | 22·1 | 17·1, 28·2 | 0·666 | 0·002 | |||
| Obese (BMI 30·0 ≤ 34·9 kg/m2) | 541 | 83·2 | 78·8, 86·9 | 16·8 | 13·1, 21·2 | 74·8 | 68·5, 80·2 | 25·2 | 19·8, 31·5 | 0·678 | 0·005 | |||
| Obese class 2,3 (BMI ≥ 35·0 kg/m2) | 559 | 84·9 | 80·5, 88·5 | 15·1 | 11·5, 19·5 | 67·6 | 60·5, 74·0 | 32·4 | 26·0, 39·5 | 0·677 | 0·003 | |||
| Marital status | F (1,15) = 1·76; P = 0·205 | F (1, 15) = 3·47; P = 0·082 | t-statistic = 0·70; P = 0·496 | |||||||||||
| Married/partnership | 1257 | 89·3 | 85·4, 92·2 | 10·7 | 7·8, 14·6 | 75·6 | 69·3, 81·0 | 24·4 | 19·0, 30·7 | 0·671 | 0·002 | |||
| Other | 1186 | 86·0 | 82·5, 88·8 | 14·0 | 11·2, 17·5 | 70·8 | 67·6, 73·8 | 29·2 | 26·2, 32·4 | 0·674 | 0·004 | |||
| Citizenship status | F (1,15) = 16·58; P = 0·001 | F (1, 15) = 0·89; P = 0·359 | t-statistic = –0·16; P = 0·878 | |||||||||||
| Citizen by birth or naturalisation | 2280 | 87·5 | 85·3, 89·3 | 12·5 | 10·7, 14·7 | 74·1 | 68·8, 78·7 | 25·9 | 21·3, 31·2 | 0·673 | 0·003 | |||
| Not a citizen of the USA | 351 | 94·3 | 91·5, 96·2 | 5·7 | 3·8, 8·5 | 68·4 | 57·2, 77·8 | 31·6 | 22·2, 42·8 | 0·674 | 0·006 | |||
| Education** | F (1·68,25·15) = 1·27; P = 0·294 | F (1·80, 27·05) = 4·86; P = 0·018 | t-statistic = –1·75; P = 0·101 | |||||||||||
| Less than HS/GED | 663 | 85·4 | 79·9, 89·6 | 14·6 | 10·4, 20·1 | 64·4 | 55·7, 72·1 | 35·6 | 27·9, 44·3 | 0·677 | 0·005 | |||
| HS/GED | 682 | 87·1 | 82·9, 90·3 | 12·9 | 9·7, 17·1 | 74·6 | 67·5, 80·5 | 25·4 | 19·5, 32·5 | 0·679 | 0·004 | |||
| More than HS/GED | 1096 | 89·0 | 86·3, 91·3 | 11·0 | 8·7, 13·7 | 76·5 | 71·8, 80·6 | 23·5 | 19·4, 28·2 | 0·667 | 0·004 | |||
| Household income | F (1,15) = 4·09; P = 0·061 | F (1, 15) = 8·23; P = 0·012 | t-statistic = 0·21; P = 0·838 | |||||||||||
| <$20 000 year | 804 | 85·6 | 82·5, 88·2 | 14·4 | 11·8, 17·5 | 65·5 | 61·6, 69·2 | 34·5 | 30·8, 38·4 | 0·672 | 0·004 | |||
| $20 000 or more year | 1767 | 89·2 | 86·6, 91·3 | 10·8 | 8·7, 13·4 | 76·1 | 69·5, 81·5 | 23·9 | 18·5, 30·5 | 0·673 | 0·003 | |||
| Employment status | F (1,15) = 29·52; P < 0·001 | F (1, 15) = 0·28; P = 0·605 | t-statistic = –0·32; P = 0·752 | |||||||||||
| Working at a job or business/with a job or business but not at work | 1229 | 93·8 | 90·8, 95·8 | 6·2 | 4·2, 9·2 | 74·6 | 68·7, 79·7 | 25·4 | 20·3, 31·3 | 0·673 | 0·003 | |||
| Looking for work/not working at a job or business | 1403 | 81·9 | 79·0, 84·5 | 18·1 | 15·5, 21·0 | 72·3 | 64·9, 78·7 | 27·7 | 21·3, 35·1 | 0·672 | 0·004 | |||
| Homeownership | F (1,15) = 0·78; P = 0·392 | F (1,15) = 38·55; P < 0·001 | t-statistic = 0·18; P = 0·862 | |||||||||||
| Rented other arrangement | 1318 | 88·9 | 86·7, 90·8 | 11·1 | 9·2, 13·3 | 62·9 | 56·8, 68·6 | 37·1 | 31·4, 43·2 | 0·672 | 0·004 | |||
| Owned or being bought | 1315 | 87·6 | 84·5, 90·1 | 12·4 | 9·9, 15·5 | 83·5 | 77·6, 88·0 | 16·5 | 12·0, 22·4 | 0·673 | 0·004 | |||
| Nutritional status of participants | ||||||||||||||
| Vitamin D†† | F (1·55,23·18) = 0·95; P = 0·380 | F (1·85, 27·81) = 9·15; P = 0·001 | t-statistic = –4·41; P = 0·001 | |||||||||||
| 25OHD2 + 25OHD3 < 50 nmol/l (VDD) | 890 | 90·0 | 87·5, 92·1 | 10·0 | 7·9, 12·5 | 67·2 | 62·0, 72·0 | 32·8 | 28·0, 38·0 | 0·682 | 0·003 | |||
| 25OHD2 + 25OHD3 ≥ 50 and <75 nmol/l (VDI) | 969 | 86·8 | 83·8, 89·3 | 13·2 | 10·7, 16·2 | 73·4 | 67·9, 78·2 | 26·6 | 21·8, 32·1 | 0·671 | 0·004 | |||
| 25OHD2 + 25OHD3 ≥ 75 nmol/l | 777 | 88·1 | 82·5, 92·0 | 11·9 | 8·0, 17·5 | 79·7 | 73·2, 85·0 | 20·3 | 15·0, 26·8 | 0·665 | 0·003 | |||
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Lack of diet diversity ranges from 0·510 (more diversity) to (0·985) less diversity. It was calculated as 1-USHFS. Significance for US HFD (not shown here) are the same as those of the reversed scores (1-US HFD) presented in Table 1.
Cell sample sizes are not weighted. Estimates (percentages and means) are weighted. Thus, the weighted estimates would not correspond to the underweight ‘n’ in the cells. Estimates do not account for missing data.
Statistically significant unadjusted associations between categorical variables (e.g. sex and education) and depression or food insecurity were determined with the Rao–Chi-Square test of independence. Associations between continuous variables (continuous age) and depression or food diversity were determined with t test statistic.
The analytic unweighted sample size n 2636 represents non-pregnant, non-lactating, low income (≤300 % Federal Poverty level) adults noninstitutionalised civilian adults who have completed 2 d of dietary recall (weighted population N 112 328 599).
Respondents aged greater than 80 years are set with an age of 80 years in NHANES data for confidentiality reasons.
HS/GED: High school/General Education Development.
Vitamin D Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(25(OH)D) (25OHD2 + 25OHD3) using thresholds recommended by the Endocrine Society(102) as vitamin D deficiency (VDD) defined as 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/l and vitamin D insufficiency (VDI) as 50 ≤ 25(OH)D < 75nmol/l.