The Mental Toll of Food Insecurity

November 20, 2022

When you think of Food Insecurity, more often than not you will think of the physical impacts hunger has on a person’s health, with the very real toll it can take on mental health often overlooked. Mental health issues are something one in every seven people in Singapore have experienced, with resulting impacts on day to day activities, families, friends and working ability, as well as being the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. It is this link, between hunger and mental health, that means the potential benefits of tackling Food Insecurity stretch far beyond preventing any individual going hungry and that solutions for tackling hunger must be holistic, designed to tackle both the physical and mental impacts resulting from a lack of access to nutritious food.

The undeniable link between hunger and mental health

The idea that having to worry regularly about how you will afford your next meal, or that of your children, can cause stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues does not take much of a stretch of imagination. It is therefore, unsurprising that studies across South East Asia and globally almost unanimously show strong links between the two, irrespective of country, gender, age or background.

But the causes and impacts go beyond this, with these studies showing that feelings of shame, powerlessness, embarrassment and alienation are all associated with food insecurity. This has a direct impact on how people suffering from food insecurity interact with their communities, with reports showing that when individuals are unable to access or afford food the lack of choices and options available to them leads to a feeling of exclusion and alienation from society.

Frequent stigmatisation of food insecurity in the media and general society reinforces this, with individuals, families and even children regularly working to hide their food insecurity, often even leading to those in need rejecting available support programs. The mental health impacts therefore compound those more regularly associated with the physical connotations of hunger. In the foundational years in children in particular, going hungry just a few times is linked to poorer mental health, with an overfocus on food leading to a lack of focus in other areas, including education where they are less likely to perform well or even finish schooling [the long lasting effects of this are touched on in more detail in Breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition].

Solutions for tackling hunger must be holistic

The significant toll on mental health that can result from food insecurity means that solutions for tackling hunger must be designed to tackle both the physical and mental impacts resulting from a lack of access to nutritious food. In adults these need to focus on the value of preserving dignity of food insecure adults & families, so as to sustain positivity & promote a growth mindset, whilst in children there needs to be an additional targeted focus on efforts to improve their energy levels and ability to focus in school specifically.

See how Free Food For All are working to achieve this here

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7174726/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074937971730243X

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2020/11/16/new-narratives-for-food-insecurity/embed/#?secret=PYfSWkGye9

https://brieflands.com/articles/ijpbs-8185.html https://actionagainsthunger.ca/mental-health-fight-against-hunger/embed/#?secret=liPRvUMniu

https://jarm.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/ jarm/article/viewFile/22523/21003