Most everyone has experienced hunger. But many of us may not have experienced being insecure about having access to adequate food and nutrition over time.

This condition called food insecurity is estimated to affect about 1 in 5 people in Hawaii with an even greater incidence in children and kupuna. Research conducted at the University of Hawaii at Manoa found an even greater incidence among students challenged by the costs of making ends meet along with the expense of education.

From over 1,000 UH Manoa students who completed surveys, 44 percent indicated that they were food insecure. More than 300 students expressed that they were food insecure with moderate or severe hunger.

QUESTION: What is the difference between hunger and food insecurity?

ANSWER: Hunger is that uncomfortable empty feeling caused by a lack of food. Food insecurity, on the other hand, is a condition in which a person may or may not experience hunger, but due to lack of financial resources, a food insecure person is unable to obtain adequate amounts of nutritious food. This may not result in inadequate calories, but generally compromises the ability to meet essential nutrient needs and can impair health.

Q: What are the consequences of food insecurity?

A: Survey data from the University of Hawaii at Manoa indicate that students with food insecurity have difficulty concentrating and staying focused on their education. Food insecure students also indicated a more compromised overall health status than students not reporting food insecurity.

Q: What types of health problems were associated with food insecurity?

A: Individuals who were food insecure indicated significantly higher levels of fatigue, headaches, attention deficit disorder and multiple emotional states like feeling sad, hopeless, and lonely.

Food insecure individuals also indicated that they they were losing interest in doing things and often experienced depression, high levels of anxiety and anger.

Q: How does emotional health affect other health conditions?

A: For about a decade, research has shown that continuous stress negatively affects the immune system, making people more prone to multiple health issues. High levels of cortisol, a hormone that increases with chronic stress, can reduce resistance to cold and flu virus infections. Stress also makes it more likely for an individual to have impaired sleep quality, muscle pains, slow healing and stomach problems. When stress is combined with inadequate nutrients to meet essential nutrient needs, heart health is also negatively affected.

Colleges and universities nationwide have experienced both an increase in food insecurity and a growing demand for mental health services with student suicides and psychiatric disorders rising yearly. At this point in time, there doesn’t appear to be any slowing of food insecurity or the increasing incidence of emotional stress.

Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dobbs also works with University Health Services.