Table 2. Sociodemographic and Health Characteristics of Food Insecure Participants (N = 4,555), Stratified by Food Assistance Program Participation,, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2010a .
| Characteristic | Type of Assistance Program |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None, N = 2,498 | Charity Only, N = 473 | SNAP Only, N = 993 | Both, N = 591 | P Valueb | |
|
Sociodemographics | |||||
| Age, mean (95% CI) | 41.5 (40.6–42.5) | 41.9 (39.8–43.9) | 39.4 (38.4–40.4) | 41.3 (40.1–42.5) | .004 |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 48.6 (46.5–50.6) | 45.8 (41.6–50.0) | 43.1 (40.5–45.7) | 39.9 (37.1–42.7) | <.001 |
| Female | 51.5 (49.4–53.5) | 54.2 (50.0–58.4) | 56.9 (54.3–59.5) | 60.1 (57.3–62.9) | |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 45.9 (39.2–52.6) | 48.5 (38.7–58.3) | 43.3 (33.1–53.4) | 49.2 (40.3–58.1) | .01 |
| Hispanic | 29.9 (24.2–35.6) | 26.2 (18.7–33.6) | 28.9 (21.0–36.8) | 19.4 (13.1–25.7) | |
| Non-Hispanic black | 17.013.4–20.7) | 20.1 (14.3–25.9) | 22.3 (16.0–28.7) | 27.9 (21.4–34.4) | |
| Other | 7.2 (4.8–9.6) | 5.2 (2.5–8.0) | 5.5 (3.0–8.0) | 3.5 (1.6–5.4) | |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 57.3 (54.2–60.3) | 49.4 (44.5–54.3) | 51.6 (46.2–57.0) | 42.6 (38.3–46.8) | <.001 |
| Single | 21.3 (18.8–23.7) | 23.8 (18.7–28.8) | 24.9 (20.5–29.2) | 27.1 (23.0–31.3) | |
| Widowed/Separated/ Divorced | 21.5 (19.2–23.7) | 26.9 (21.7–32.1) | 23.5 (20.1–27.0) | 30.3 (26.1–34.5) | |
| Education | |||||
| Less than high school | 31.6 (28.5–34.8) | 38.8 (32.6–45.0) | 44.7 (40.0–49.4) | 42.3 (37.2–47.3) | <.001 |
| High school graduate | 27.9 (25.5–30.4) | 25.3 (21.2–29.4) | 29.0 (25.5–32.6) | 29.3 (24.8–33.7) | |
| Some college, college degree, or more/other | 40.4 (37.1–43.8) | 36.0 (30.3–41.6) | 25.9 (21.6–30.1) | 28.0 (22.8–33.2) | |
| Poverty-to-income ratio | |||||
| <1 | 26.5 (22.9–30.1) | 40.5 (32.4–48.5) | 61.2 (55.1–67.2) | 62.3(55.2–69.5) | <.001 |
| ≥1 to <1.33 | 13.7 (11.7–15.6) | 19.5 (14.5–24.5) | 18.3 (14.4–22.1) | 16.6 (13.2–20.0) | |
| ≥1.33 to < 1.50 | 6.8 (5.4–8.3) | 7.0 (4.3–9.7) | 3.4 (2.2–4.7) | 6.6 (3.0–10.2) | |
| ≥1.50 to <1.85 | 10.9 (8.9–12.9) | 12.4 (8.1–16.8) | 4.4 (2.7–6.1) | 5.3 (2.6–7.9) | |
| ≥1.85 | 42.1 (37.9–46.4) | 20.6 (15.2–26.1) | 12.7 (8.6–16.9) | 9.2 (5.3–13.1) | |
| Household size | |||||
| 1 or 2 | 35.8 (31.6–40.1) | 38.1 (31.1–45.0) | 24.2 (20.4–27.9) | 32.5 (26.0–39.0) | <.001 |
| 3 or 4 | 38.6 (35.0–42.3) | 38.7 (30.7–46.7) | 36.4 (31.6–41.2) | 38.5 (32.4–44.6) | |
| ≥5 | 25.6 (21.3–29.8) | 23. 3(17.3–29.2) | 39.5 (33.5–45.5) | 28.9 (23.2–34.7) | |
| Children in home aged 18 y or younger | 52.1 (47.9–56.3) | 49.7 (41.9–57.4) | 71.5 (66.8–76.3) | 58.0 (53.0–63.0) | <.001 |
| Health | |||||
| No. of days per monthc | |||||
| Poor physical health | 4.3 (3.8–4.8) | 5.6 (4.4–6.9) | 5.8 (4.8–6.8) | 7.3 (6.3–8.2) | <.001 |
| Poor mental health | 5.3 (4.8–5.8) | 7.8 (6.4–9.3) | 7.4 (6.7–8.1) | 10.2 (9.1–11.4) | <.001 |
| Self-rated healthc | |||||
| Excellent/very good/good | 66.6 (64.0–69.1) | 61.7 (55.1–68.2) | 57.7 (53.5–61.8) | 52.5 (47.3–57.7) | <.001 |
| Fair/poor | 23.6 (21.3–25.9) | 26.1 (21.8–30.5) | 31.4 (27.2–35.5) | 40.4 (35.1–45.6) | |
| Functional limitations | |||||
| Any | 25.5 (23.3–27.6) | 38.3 (32.2–44.3) | 35.6 (31.6–39.6) | 52.9 (47.7–58.2) | <.001 |
| Activities of daily living | 11.4 (9.9–12.9) | 21.9 (17.2–26.7) | 17.8 (14.4–21.1) | 33.7 (29.1–38.3) | |
| Instrumental activities of daily living | 13.9 (12.2–15.5) | 24.7 (18.8–30.6) | 21.3 (18.1–24.5) | 36.7 (31.9–41.4) | |
| Lower extremity mobility | 8.2 (6.9–9.5) | 13.5 (9.6–17.4) | 14.1 (11.2–16.9) | 20.2 (16.5–23.8) | |
| General physical activity | 23.9 (21.7–26.1) | 35.0 (29.3–40.8) | 32.7 (28.9–36.5) | 49.6 (44.5–54.7) | |
| Leisure and social activities | 11.1 (9.5–12.8) | 22.4 (18.3–26.5) | 17.4 (14.6–20.2) | 32.2 (28.3–36.2) | |
| Comorbid conditions | |||||
| Arthritis | 19.7 (17.4–22.0) | 25.0 (20.7–29.3) | 22.7 (19.7–25.7) | 37.8 (33.0–42.6) | <.001 |
| Cancer | 5.6 (4.4–6.8) | 6.0 (4.0–8.0) | 4.3 (2.9–5.8) | 7.0 (4.9–9.1) | .19 |
| Diabetes | 8.5 (7.3–9.8) | 9.1 (6.2–12.0) | 9.3 (7.2–11.4) | 12.7 (9.7–15.8) | .045 |
| Hypertension | 26.1 (24.0–28.2) | 31.5 (26.1–36.9) | 27.6 (24.3–30.8) | 35.0 (29.4–40.7) | .006 |
| Depressive symptoms in the last 2 weeks | |||||
| None | 72.4 (69.8–75.0) | 67.1 (60.8–73.4) | 62.9 (59.5–66.2) | 50.9 (47.0–54.8) | <.001 |
| Mild | 22.5 (20.3–24.7) | 23.6 (18.6–28.5) | 29.5 (26.1–32.9) | 34.5 (30.2–38.9) | |
| Severe | 5.1 (3.8–6.4) | 9.4 (6.2–12.5) | 7.6 (5.6–9.6) | 14.6 (11.5–17.7) | |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 c , d | |||||
| <25 (normal weight or underweight) | 30.1 (27.7–32.5) | 24.7 (17.9–31.6) | 30.8 (27.1–34.5) | 26.4 (22.3–30.5) | .03 |
| ≥25 to <30 (overweight) | 31.8 (29.4–34.3) | 33.1 (28.0–38.3) | 29.9 (26.6–33.3) | 26.3 (22.5–30.2) | |
| ≥30 (obese) | 36.7 (34.1–39.4) | 41.4 (35.3–47.6) | 37.4 (34.0–40.8) | 45.2 (40.6–49.8) | |
| Smokere | |||||
| Never | 51.8 (48.3–55.4) | 40.7 (34.5–46.8) | 40.8 (35.1–46.5) | 29.0 (23.7–34.3) | <.001 |
| Former | 16.2 (14.2–18.2) | 13.5 (8.6–18.4) | 12.6 (9.9–15.3) | 11.5 (9.0–14.0) | |
| Current | 29.1 (25.8–32.5) | 44.2 (36.0–52.4) | 44.2 (38.3–50.1) | 56.7 (51.2–62.1) | |
| Alcohol consumption | |||||
| None or moderatef | 92.6 (91.4–93.7) | 95.3 (93.0–97.7) | 91.8 (89.3–94.4) | 87.4 (84.3–90.6) | .001 |
| Risky | 7.4 (6.3–8.6) | 4.7 (2.3–7.0) | 8.2 (5.6–10.7) | 12.6 (9.4–15.7) | |
| No insurance | 39.5 (35.9–43.1) | 45.3 (39.5–51.1) | 42.7 (38.5–46.8) | 39.6 (33.8–45.3) | .34 |
| No usual care | 30.4 (27.3–33.5) | 32.5 (27.7–37.3) | 31.1 (27.2–35.0) | 28.8 (25.1–32.6) | .71 |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
a
Values are expressed as % (95% CI), unless otherwise indicated. All values reflect point estimates (95% CI) using survey weights to provide a nationally representative estimate.
b
P values calculated by Rao Scott χ2 tests (for categorical variables) or F test (for continuous variables).
c
Measurements assessed at mobile examination center represent a subsample of the total.
d
Underweight and normal weight individuals were collapsed due to small cell sizes across categories of food assistance.
e
Current smoker was define as currently smoking or quit within the past 12 months, former as quit ≥12 months ago, never smoked as a lifetime history of smoking ≤100 cigarettes.
f
Risky was defined a >1 drink/d for women or >2 drinks/d for men and moderate as ≤1 drink/d for women and ≤2 drinks/d for men.