Letter to the EditorFood Security in Older Australians

We read with interest the article byRadermacher et al on food securityin older Australians,1 which high-lights an important research area notpreviously investigated in any depthin Australia. To date, only a singlefood security item question was askedin Australian nationalmonitoring sur-veys, providing an indication of therisk of food security rather thana true measure.2 Using this singleitem, 5.2% of Australian adults aged19 years and older reported beingfood insecure. On the other hand,a study of disadvantaged areas in Syd-ney, New South Wales found that21.9% of subjects reported beingfood insecure using the US HouseholdFood Security Survey Module.3,4 As inthe study by Radermacher et al,1 weinvestigated the prevalence of food in-security in a large cohort of olderadults using a similar food securitymeasurement tool.5

The Blue Mountains Eye Study(BMES) is a population-based cohortstudy of eye diseases and other healthoutcomes. The BMES second survey(BMES2, 1997-2000) included 3,509residents aged > 49 years of age fromthe Blue Mountains area, west of Syd-ney.6 As part of BMES2, participantscompleted a range of questionnairesthat included demography, a detailedmedical history, and a 12-item foodsecurity questionnaire adapted fromthe Radimer/Cornell Food SecurityHunger Measurement tool.5 In total,3,068 participants completed thefood security questions. We found13% of participants answered at least1 of the 12 items as ‘‘sometimestrue’’ or ‘‘always true,’’ which indi-cates some level of food insecurity. Asignificantly higher proportion ofwomen (15.4%) than men (9.4%) re-ported being food insecure. A higherproportion of participants in our

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2011;43:e1�2011 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCdoi:10.1016/j.jneb.2010.12.007

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behav

study compared to Radermacher et alreported being worried about runningout of food or about food not lasting(7.5% vs 3% and 5.3% vs 0%, respec-tively).1

Our findings could reflect a morerepresentative estimate of food insecu-rity, as we have drawn on participantsfrom a large population-based cohortof older Australians. In agreementwith Radermacher et al, we foundthat there is a need for ongoing ser-vices from local government to ensurethe availability of both adequate com-munity support and social support forthis population.1 Small studies such asthose reported by Radermacher et alprovide important indicators of publichealth issues not frequently addressedin larger studies, particularly inAustralia. In this case, we were ableto support their findings with datafrom a larger cohort, thereby reinforc-ing the significance of food insecurityfor subpopulations within Australia.

Sincerely,

Joanna Russell, BSc, MPHSchool of Health Sciences, Faculty of

Health and Behavioural Sciences,University of Wollongong,

Wollongong; Centre for VisionResearch, Department of

Ophthalmology and WestmeadMillennium Institute, Westmead,

NSW, Australia

Victoria Flood, MPH, PhD, APDSchool of Health Sciences, Faculty of

Health and Behavioural Sciences,University of Wollongong,

Wollongong; Centre for VisionResearch, Department of

Ophthalmology and WestmeadMillennium Institute, Westmead,

NSW, AustraliaVflood@uow.edu.au

ATION

ior � Volume 43, Number 2, 2011

Heather Yeatman, BSc, DipEd,GDipNutrDiet, MPH, DrPH

School of Health Sciences, Faculty ofHealth and Behavioural Sciences,

University of Wollongong,Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Paul Mitchell, MBBS, MD, PhD,FRANZCO, FRCOphth, FAFPHM

Centre for Vision Research,Department of Ophthalmology and

Westmead Millennium Institute,Westmead, NSW, Australia

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

REFERENCES

1. Radermacher H, Feldman S, Bird S.Food security in older australians fromdifferent cultural backgrounds. J NutrEduc Behav. 2010;42:328-336.

2. Booth S, Smith A. Food security andpoverty in Australia—challenges for die-titians.Aust J Nutr Diet. 2001;58:150-156.

3. Rychetnik L, Webb K, Story L, Katz T.Food Security Options Paper: A PlanningFramework and Menu of Options for Policyand Practice Interventions. North Sydney,Australia: NSW Centre for PublicHealth Nutrition, NSW Department ofHealth; 2003.

4. Nolan M, Rikard-Bell G, Mohsin M,Williams M. Food insecurity in three so-cially disadvantaged localities in Sydney,Australia. Health Promot J Aust.2006;17:247-254.

5. Radimer KL, Olson CM, Greene JC,Campbell CC, Habricht J-P. Under-standing hunger and developing indica-tors to assess it in women and children.J Nutr Educ. 1992;24(1 suppl):36S-45S.

6. Foran S, Wang JJ, Mitchell P. Causes ofvisual impairment in two older popula-tion cross-sections: the Blue MountainsEye Study. Ophthal Epidemiol. 2003;10:215-225.

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