OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional study examined the association between food insecurity and emotional eating and explored correlations between emotional eating and dietary behavior in the U.S during the pandemic. METHODS: Participants ( RESULTS: Overall, 31.3 % of the participants experienced food insecurity. Food insecurity was associated with higher emotional eating in the crude model (beta = 0.33
95 % confidence level [CL]: 0.15, 0.52), but not in the fully adjusted regression model (beta = 0.15
95 % CL: -0.06, 0.37). Intakes of sugary snacks ( CONCLUSIONS: In this study, emotional eating was not associated with food insecurity and was weakly positively correlated with the intake of energy-dense foods. The relationship between food insecurity and emotional eating is complex and not yet clearly defined. Examination of longitudinal associations between emotional eating, food insecurity, and energy-dense foods is warranted.