Moderate-to-severe food insecurity is positively correlated with the risk of eating disorders in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic may have worsened food insecurity and altered the eating behaviour of young adults. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aims to investigate the correlation between moderate-to-severe food insecurity and the risk of eating disorders among young urbanists in Malaysia after the pandemic-led lockdown.

METHODS: The food security status and the risk of eating disorders were assessed using the validated Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), respectively.

RESULTS: Among the 208 young urbanists, approximately one-third (30.8%) were moderate-to-severe food insecure and about one-fifth (18.8%) were at risk of eating disorders after the nationwide lockdown. With the adjustment of gender, the binary logistic regression analysis revealed that moderate-to-severe food insecure individuals were 2.279 times (P = 0.030, 95% CI = 1.084-4.791) more likely to engage in disordered eating in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of partial correlation further indicated that moderate-to-severe food insecurity was positively correlated (rpartial = 0.156, P = 0.024) with bulimia and food preoccupation after the outbreak.

CONCLUSIONS: Governments and non-governmental organizations must work closely to develop effective policies to address food insecurity and disordered eating behaviour among young urbanists - after the pandemic.