# Environmental Influences on Food Addiction and Cardiometabolic Profiles in Law Enforcement Officers

## TL;DR

This study explores how poor local food environments, especially in rural areas, may contribute to food addiction and heart disease risk among law enforcement officers.

## Contribution

The study reveals how environmental factors may influence food addiction and cardiometabolic risk in a high-stress occupational group.

## Key findings

- Rural counties had poorer food environments and higher food addiction symptoms among law enforcement officers.
- Lower food environment scores were linked to greater food addiction symptoms and worse cardiometabolic profiles.
- Findings suggest environmental influences on food addiction and cardiovascular disease risk beyond individual behaviors.

## Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
This study addresses how adverse local food environments may exacerbate food addiction and cardiometabolic risk among law enforcement officers, a high-stress occupational group with elevated vulnerability to cardiovascular disease.

This study addresses how adverse local food environments may exacerbate food addiction and cardiometabolic risk among law enforcement officers, a high-stress occupational group with elevated vulnerability to cardiovascular disease.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
Findings demonstrate that poorer county-level food environments, particularly in rural areas, are associated with greater food addiction symptoms; these are, in turn, associated with unfavorable cardiometabolic profiles, highlighting potential environmental influences on cardiovascular disease risk beyond individual behaviors.

Findings demonstrate that poorer county-level food environments, particularly in rural areas, are associated with greater food addiction symptoms; these are, in turn, associated with unfavorable cardiometabolic profiles, highlighting potential environmental influences on cardiovascular disease risk beyond individual behaviors.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Although preliminary and non-causal, our findings underscore the complex role of environmental influences on disordered eating in law enforcement and highlight the need for more fine-grained, individual-level assessments of environmental exposure and prospective, longitudinal research to inform effective, context-specific interventions.

Although preliminary and non-causal, our findings underscore the complex role of environmental influences on disordered eating in law enforcement and highlight the need for more fine-grained, individual-level assessments of environmental exposure and prospective, longitudinal research to inform effective, context-specific interventions.

Law enforcement officers experience substantial occupational stressors that increase vulnerability to food addiction and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which may be compounded by adverse local environments. This study examined associations among county-level environmental factors, food addiction, and cardiometabolic profiles among North Carolina law enforcement officers. Participants included 330 officers (mean age = 37.98 years; mean BMI = 30.53 kg/m2) who completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 and underwent assessments of anthropometrics, blood pressure, blood lipids, and glucose. County-level Food Environment Index (FEI) scores and counts of fast-food restaurants, recreation and fitness facilities, and crime events were obtained from public data sources. Comparative analyses evaluated differences by county type and region, and BMI- and sex-adjusted regression models assessed associations among environmental factors, food addiction symptoms, and cardiometabolic profiles. Rural counties had significantly poorer FEI scores than suburban and urban counties, and rural officers reported the highest food addiction symptoms. Lower FEI scores were significantly associated with greater food addiction symptoms, which were, in turn, associated with higher adiposity and lower triglyceride levels. The findings support associations between food addiction and CVD risk, while underscoring potential influences of food environments on food addiction, warranting further investigation using more precise and up-to-date measures.