Inability to afford food today may cause heart disease tomorrow, scientist says
STRUGGLING to afford food today could mean heart problems tomorrow. Young adults experiencing food insecurity have a 41 percent greater risk of developing heart disease in midlife, even after accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, according to a Northwestern University School of Medicine, United States, study published recently. Food insecurity—struggling to get enough nutritious food to stay healthy—affects one in eight households in the United States each year, the study added. “We’ve known that food insecurity and heart disease often go hand in hand, but this study shows, for the first time, that food insecurity comes first,” said Dr Jenny Jia, an instructor of general internal medicine and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine internist. “That makes it a clear target for prevention—if we address food insecurity early, we may be able to reduce the burden of heart disease later.” Related Death...