Associations Between Food Insecurity and Asthma: Findings From the 2024 Adult National Health Interview Survey

Associations Between Food Insecurity and Asthma: Findings From the 2024 Adult National Health Interview Survey Celia Heath, Rebecca Hill-Larsen, Grace Hilton, Francesca Scaramuzzo, Christel Tonoki, Thomas Delaney, Elzerie de Jager, Chris Zuidema. Abstract Background: To examine whether food insecurity is associated with the occurrence of asthma among U.S. adults. Methods: Using the 2024 Adult National Health Interview Survey, 4,802 participants who reported having an asthma attack in the last 12 months were included. The association between asthma attacks and food insecurity, adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and rurality, was examined using binary logistic regression. Results: Food insecure participants had 1.98 times higher odds of asthma attacks compared to food secure participants (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.58, 2.48). Females had significantly higher odds of reporting asthma attack in the past 12 months compared with males (OR = 2.33; CI = 1.93, 2.80). Conclusions: Food insecurity may be an important, potentially modifiable social determinant of asthma morbidity among U.S. adults. Partnerships between primary care physicians and hunger relief organizations could help to integrate food security screening and food access into asthma care.