Peace of Mind, Health of Body: Why the Correlation of Food Security, Physical Health, and Mental Wellbeing Holds Important Implications for Humanitarian Actors

ABSTRACT: Over 800 million people in 70 countries are classified as “food insecure.” Much humanitarian emphasis focuses on the negative physical consequences of food insecurity, neglecting its deleterious psychological effects. Negative perceptions of food security often coincide with acute mental distress, a complicating factor that intervention policies frequently overlook. This paper posits that understanding the relationships among food security, mental health, and physical health is critical to the formation of effective aid policies. After identifying weakness in prior intervention attempts, the paper discusses how recognizing these linkages and incorporating qualitative mental health data into early planning stages would improve policy design.