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The results from a recent study revealed that one's food security status is tied to one's risk of cardiovascular complications. According to the researchers, food security status can predict heart risk a decade into the future. The researchers reported that the lower one's statuses was, the greater the risk became.

For this study, the team headed by Earl S. Ford, MP, MPH from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), examined data on 10,455 people aged 20 and older. The data was collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2010. The survey was created to examine the relationship between food security status and heart disease risk factors. The researchers had conducted a cross-sectional analysis and used 10 questions to help define different terms. Four questions were used to specifically define food security status.

The researchers reported that people with low food security statuses had a 0.15 percent higher mean hemoglobin A1c. These people also had a 0.8 mg/L greater mean concentration of C-reactive protein, according to Medical Xpress. Using this information, the researchers tied low food security statuses to greater risk of heart disease. They reported that people between the ages of 30 and 59-years-old had a 10-year cardiovascular risk of at least 20 percent if they had a low food security status.

"Food security status was significantly associated with predicted 10-year risk for cardiovascular disease among adults aged 30 to 59 years," Ford explained. "Food security status was also significantly associated with several individual risk factors."

The researchers noted that food security statuses did not affect high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The study was published in the CDC's Preventing Chronic Disease.