Abstract
Very little is known about the prevalence of food insecurity—and living in a food desert—among persons with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and major mood disorders. This study evaluated those prevalences and assessed for associations with six other variables. Surveys were conducted with 300 patients with a psychotic or mood disorder receiving outpatient services at five community mental health agencies in Washington, D.C. The prevalences of low food security and very low food security were 68.9% and 46.8%, compared to national rates of 13.7% (13.2% in Washington, D.C.) and 5.4% (4.8% in Washington, D.C.). 50.0% of participants lived in food desert census tracts, which was associated with both severe and morbid obesity (p = .02 and p = .03, respectively). Additional research, evaluation of clinical implications, and potential policy approaches to these concerning social determinants of physical and mental health, in an already vulnerable patient population, are warranted.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a “Food for Thought” grant (2013) from the Office of the Vice President for Research at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. We appreciate the participation of patients—and support and assistance of clinicians—at Green Door, Anchor Mental Health, McClendon Center, Capital Community Services, and Community Connections, all in Washington, DC. The authors acknowledge the following individuals who participated in the research: Yazeed Alolayan, M.B.B.S., Richard Bebout, Ph.D., Beth Broussard, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Ph.D., Anthony Crisafio, M.Res., Kelly King, M.D., Sherry Molock, Ph.D., Neely Myers, Ph.D., Mark Nord, Ph.D., David Pollack, M.D., Thomas A. Reed, M.D., and Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H.
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Compton, M.T., Ku, B.S. Prevalence of Food Insecurity and Living in a Food Desert among Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses in Public Mental Health Clinics. Community Ment Health J 59, 357–362 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01013-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01013-w