The study is based on a federal health survey between 1999 and 2002 conducted on nearly 9,700 men and women who answered questions about their health, demographics and their family's level of food security.
The earlier theories hypothesize that people may overeat during times when food is less scarce, such as at the point in the month when Food Stamp assistance comes through. Low-income families tend to munch upon many high-calorie processed foods that are relatively cheap rather than fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.
But the findings of the new study concluded that women in food-insecure households were not only more likely than other women to be obese, but were also more prone to gain more excess weight.
Dr. Parke Wilde and colleague Jerusha Peterman found that women who reported some level of hardship were 58 percent to 76 percent more likely to be obese than those who reported no problems providing balanced meals.
The women reporting hardships were also more likely to gain at least 10 pounds over the next year; about one third did so, versus 20 percent of women in households with no difficulty putting food on the table.
This is in line with other studies on the issue, but the reason for the gender difference is not clear, Wilde told Reuters Health.
