Frailty and food insecurity in older adults

Abstract

Objective The objective of the current work was to determine the association between food insecurity and frailty in older adults, within the context of a country with accelerated ageing and nutritional problems. Design Cross-sectional analysis of a representative nationwide survey on health and nutrition. Setting Mexican nationwide survey. Subjects A sample of 7108 adults aged 60 years or older living in communities, representative of Mexican older adults. Results Multivariate regression and descriptive analyses of food insecurity and frailty were performed. From a total of 7108 adults aged 60 years or older, with a mean age of 70·7 years, most (54·7 %) were women. Food security categories were: 26·3 % had food security, 40·3 % had mild food insecurity, 20·5 % had moderate food insecurity and 12·9 % had severe food insecurity. Food insecurity categories were associated with frailty, with the severe category having the highest odds ratio of 2·41 (95 % CI 2·03, 2·86; P<0·001) after adjustment for confounding factors. Conclusions According to our results, food insecurity is associated to frailty, which in turn is a condition that renders the older adult at a higher risk of developing adverse outcomes. Targeted food programmes for older adults with a high risk of having food insecurity or of being frail may improve health in this population group.