Table 1.
Sample and food insecurity characteristics among middle-aged and older adults in India, 2017–2018 (N = 72,262).
| Variable | Variable specification | Sample | Food insecurity in the past 12 months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall (4 items) | Cut size/skip meals | Hungry but not eat | Not eat for whole day | Lost weight due to lack of food | |||
| % or M (SD) | % | % | % | % | % | ||
| Social and demographic factors | |||||||
| All | 9.7 | 6.0 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 4.8 | ||
| Age in years | 45–59 | 54.1 | 9.1 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 4.1 |
| 60 or more | 45.9 | 10.5 | 6.4 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 5.7 | |
| Sex | Female | 58.0 | 9.8 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 4.6 |
| Male | 42.0 | 9.7 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 5.2 | |
| Formal education | 1 or more years | 50.5 | 7.3 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| None | 49.5 | 12.2 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 6.4 | |
| Socioeconomic status | Low | 37.2 | 14.3 | 10.0 | 8.7 | 6.4 | 7.4 |
| Medium | 38.7 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 3.6 | |
| High | 24.1 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.8 | |
| Health insurance | No | 79.3 | 10.2 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 5.3 |
| Yes | 20.7 | 8.0 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 3.0 | |
| Marital status | Not married | 24.4 | 11.8 | 7.9 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 6.1 |
| Married | 75.6 | 9.0 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 3.3 | 4.5 | |
| Religion | Hindu | 81.9 | 9.3 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 |
| Muslim | 11.7 | 12.7 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 4.6 | 6.3 | |
| Christian | 3.0 | 10.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 3.9 | 2.9 | |
| Sikh | 1.8 | 6.6 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.7 | |
| Other | 1.7 | 10.6 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | |
| Caste/tribe | None of below | 24.9 | 6.9 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Scheduled Caste | 19.7 | 13.3 | 9.2 | 7.9 | 6.4 | 6.7 | |
| Scheduled Tribe | 8.8 | 11.2 | 7.3 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 5.6 | |
| Other Backward Class | 46.7 | 9.4 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 4.6 | |
| Residence | Rural | 68.2 | 11.3 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 4.6 | 6.0 |
| Urban | 31.8 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | |
| Region | North | 11.3 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.9 |
| Northeast | 3.6 | 7.5 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3.7 | |
| East | 23.4 | 10.9 | 7.9 | 6.6 | 4.5 | 5.8 | |
| Central | 20.8 | 13.7 | 7.8 | 6.4 | 5.6 | 9.4 | |
| West | 16.5 | 8.0 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.1 | |
| South | 24.4 | 8.4 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | |
| Organised religiosity | Low | 25.5 | 11.1 | 7.1 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 6.0 |
| Medium | 46.9 | 9.2 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 4.5 | |
| High | 27.6 | 9.3 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 4.4 | |
| Social participation | Yes | 54.4 | 9.7 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Mental health | |||||||
| Self-reported health (fair or poor) | Yes | 39.7 | 13.0 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 5.2 | 6.8 |
| Life satisfaction | Low | 11.1 | 24.3 | 17.5 | 16.3 | 12.2 | 12.7 |
| Cognitive functioning | Scores: 0–32; M (SD) | 18.7 (5.1) | 17.4 (5.1) | 16.9 (5.1) | 17.0 (5.2) | 16.7 (4.8) | 17.2 (5.0) |
| Insomnia symptoms | Yes | 12.7 | 16.4 | 10.5 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 |
| Depressive symptoms | Yes | 27.6 | 16.9 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 7.2 | 9.3 |
| Major depressive disorder | Yes | 7.6 | 23.7 | 17.6 | 15.7 | 12.0 | 14.6 |
| Alzheimer’s/dementia | Yes | 0.7 | 18.4 | 12.9 | 11.8 | 8.5 | 10.9 |
| Physical health | |||||||
| General underweight | Yes | 28.4 | 14.0 | 8.9 | 8.0 | 6.2 | 8.5 |
| General overweight/obesity | Yes | 46.1 | 6.8 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Bone/joint disease | Yes | 15.7 | 11.6 | 7.6 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 6.3 |
| Hypertension (measured) | Yes | 40.4 | 8.9 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 4.1 |
| Hypertension (self-reported) | Yes | 26.4 | 10.3 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| Heart disease | Yes | 8.6 | 10.3 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 4.3 |
| Angina | Yes | 8.6 | 16.2 | 12.9 | 11.8 | 8.5 | 10.9 |
| Stoke | Yes | 1.8 | 15.8 | 10.4 | 8.6 | 4.3 | 8.7 |
| Diabetes | Yes | 11.6 | 8.2 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 2.4 | 3.4 |
| Chronic lung disease | Yes | 6.3 | 12.4 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 5.2 | 6.8 |
| Functional limitationsa | 2 or more | 28.8 | 13.8 | 9.0 | 7.9 | 5.8 | 7.4 |
| Health risk behaviour | |||||||
| Current tobacco use | Yes | 30.4 | 11.5 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 6.3 |
| Heavy alcohol use | Yes | 2.9 | 15.5 | 10.3 | 10.1 | 5.0 | 5.9 |
| Physical inactivity | Yes | 23.7 | 11.8 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 4.2 | 6.6 |
aDifficulties with two or more Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL).