The association between military commissary utilization and food insecurity in the U.S. military

Introduction: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has demonstrated that the prevalence of food insecurity for the U.S. military population is significantly higher than among socio-economically equivalent civilians. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between U.S. military commissary utilization (as well as location of residence) and food insecurity. Methods: This analysis used the Status of Forces-Active Duty Survey for the 2020 calendar year. Weighted chi-square tests were used at the bivariate level, and weighted logistic regression was used at the multivariable level to analyze the association between commissary utilization, location of residence, and food insecurity, controlling for potential confounders. Results: Approximately 85% of the unweighted sample utilized the commissary at any point in the 12 months prior to the survey. In the multivariable regression, there was no significant association between commissary utilization in the past 12 months and food insecurity (AOR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.68-1.29). There was also no difference in food insecurity between service members who lived off base compared to service members who lived on base (AOR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.73-1.28). Similar to previous analyses, lower paygrade and financial insecurity were associated with a higher rate of food insecurity. Discussion: Although commissary utilization and location of residence were not associated with food insecurity, both financial security and paygrade were significant predictors. Future studies should investigate facilitators and barriers to commissary access among both active duty military service members and their dependents.