This longitudinal study examined the association of food insecurity with anthropometric changes, incident hypertension and diabetes over three years in Filipino women. Data were drawn from 1,562 participants in the 2012 and 2015 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS). Food security was measured using the 7-item Radimer-Cornell scale. Linear and logistic regression models assessed the association between 2012 food insecurity and 2015 outcomes, including BMI, waist circumference (WC), % body fat (%BF), and incident hypertension and diabetes. Higher food insecurity scores in 2012 were significantly associated with lower BMI (β = -0.14, p < 0.001), WC (β = - 0.36, p < 0.001), and %BF (β = -0.34, p < 0.001) in 2015, after adjusting for age, wealth, urbanicity, and other covariates. No statistically significant associations were found between food insecurity and incidence of hypertension (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.89–1.24) or diabetes (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.72–1.18). Unlike trends in high income countries (HIC), where food insecurity is linked to obesity and chronic diseases, these findings underscore the need to examine food insecurity’s effects in LMICs undergoing a nutrition transition. Future studies should include longer follow-up periods and detailed dietary assessments to clarify the role of diet as a mediator between food insecurity and disease outcomes.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Rawan Ajeen and Romaniya Voloshchuk received funding as pre-doctoral trainees from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (#5T32HL129969).

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The study protocol received approval from the Institutional Review Boards at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (IRB #05-1422 and 11-0064) and the University of San Carlos (no assigned number).

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