title: Food Insecurity Increases the Odds of Obesity Among Young Hispanic Children.
abstract: Obesity is a growing public health concern and is more prevalent among low-income and minority populations. Food insecurity may increase the odds of obesity in children. We investigated the association between food insecurity and obesity among low-income, Hispanic, mother-child dyads (n = 74). The United States Department of Agriculture 18-item Household Food Security Survey was used to determine food security status. The majority of households were food insecure (74 %) and one-third (30 %) of children were obese. Food insecurity increased the odds of childhood obesity (OR 10.2; 95 % CI 1.2, 85.5) with stronger associations found within households where mothers were also overweight/obese compared to normal weight (p-for interaction < 0.05). Rates of household food insecurity and childhood obesity were high among this low-income Hispanic sample. Future studies should elucidate the mechanisms through which food insecurity impacts childhood obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 013 Carpenter Sports Building, 26 North College Avenue, Newark, DE, 19716, USA. mpapas@udel.edu.
authors.forename: Mia A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Papas
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 013 Carpenter Sports Building, 26 North College Avenue, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Jillian C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Trabulsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 013 Carpenter Sports Building, 26 North College Avenue, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 013 Carpenter Sports Building, 26 North College Avenue, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dominick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: Childhood obesity; Food insecurity; Hispanic; Maternal and child health