The current findings suggest that households with very low food security tend to shop more frequently in stores that have less-healthful options, such as convenience/dollar stores.
Increased concern about future overweight and controlling feeding styles represent potential mechanisms by which food insecurity could be related to obesity. Obesity prevention should aim to decrease food insecurity and to reduce controlling feeding styles in families who remain food insecure.
Recent paternal incarceration, defined as incarceration in the past 2 years, is associated with an increased likelihood of food insecurity among 5-year-old children, but only among children living with their biological fathers prior to his incarceration. These associations cannot be explained by the mechanisms considered, including post-incarceration changes in economic well-being, parental relationships, maternal parenting, and maternal health.
A review of the current literature revealed that an adverse association between food insecurity and dietary patterns is well supported. The association between food insecurity and obesity is strongest for women, with results for men and children being mixed.
Recently hospitalized low-income children and girls had significantly greater odds of living in food insecure households. Of potentially eligible hospitalized children, 26.9% had not received Women, Infants, and Children benefits and 31.0% had not received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in the past year.
Climatic changes, although a worldwide phenomena, clearly have unequal and pernicious impacts, that in this case created significant challenges for these farm-worker families.
Under nonparametric assumptions, we find that WIC reduces the prevalence of child food insecurity by at least 3.6 percentage points (20%).
The point estimates show that the associations are stronger as measured by the new supplemental measure of income-to-needs ratio than when estimated through the official measure. Statistical tests reject the hypothesis that poor households’ odds of experiencing low food security are the same whether the SPM or OPM measure is used; but the tests do not reject the hypothesis when very low food security is the outcome.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation was not associated with improved household food security over 3 months. Compared with non-participants, SNAP participants increased refined grain intake by 1.1 serving/d , from baseline to follow-up. No associations were observed with other foods, nutrients, or dietary quality.
As stressors increased, child health risks increased. WIC participation attenuates but does not eliminate child health risks.
