Research paper
Food insecurity and hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Study answer
What this study found
Adults show a positive association between FIS and self-reported hypertension (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.13 to 1.88; n=127,467). However, FIS is not associated with hypertension defined by measured blood pressure or medical records in adults (OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.04; n=29,781). When combining adult data for hypertension by any method, the OR is 1.20 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.43; n=190,429) with substantial heterogeneity (I2=95%). In adults, SBP and DBP differences show no meaningful effect (SBP SMD 0.00; 95% CI -0.04 to 0.05; n=12,212; DBP SMD 0.03; 95% CI -0.09 to 0.16; n=15,240). Pediatric studies…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional observational studies examining the relationship between food insecurity (FIS) and hypertension.
- Key limitation
- Limitations: Primarily cross-sectional designs; high heterogeneity; reliance on self-reported hypertension for many analyses; variable hypertension definitions (self-report, medical records, single BP readings); insufficient pediatric data and limited adjustment for BMI and other covariates; inability to establish…
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Background Food insecurity (FIS) is an important public health issue associated with cardiovascular risk. Given the association of FIS with diets of poorer nutritional quality and higher salt intake as well as chronic stress, numerous studies have ex…