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Future research directions for the insurance hypothesis regarding food insecurity and obesity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Michelle I. Cardel ,
Greg Pavela ,
Emily Dhurandhar  and
David B. Allison
Michelle I. Cardel
Affiliation:
Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0177. mcardel@ufl.eduhttp://health-outcomes-policy.ufl.edu/faculty-directory/cardel-michelle/
Greg Pavela
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294. pavela@uab.eduhttp://www.soph.uab.edu/faculty/hb/gregory_pavela
Emily Dhurandhar
Affiliation:
Department of Kinesiology & Sports Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409. emily.dhurandhar@ttu.eduhttps://www.depts.ttu.edu/ksm/contact/pages/edhurandhar.php
David B. Allison
Affiliation:
Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294. dallison@uab.eduhttp://www.soph.uab.edu/energetics/personnel/david_allison
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Abstract

The focus of this commentary is Nettle et al.'s insurance hypothesis linking food insecurity to a high body mass index (BMI). We discuss how the relationship between race/ethnicity and obesity in the United States is consistent with this hypothesis, then present potential ways forward to elucidate the validity of this hypothesis in humans through rigorous controlled trials.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e110
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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