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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.edu http://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.edu http://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.edu https://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.edu http://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.

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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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