title: The Relationship Between Food Insecurity and BMI for Preschool Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The literature exploring the relationship between food insecurity and obesity for preschool-aged children is inconclusive and suffers from inconsistent measurement. This paper explores the relationships between concurrent household and child food insecurity and child overweight as well as differences in these relationships by child gender using a sample of 2-5 year old children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using measured height and weight and responses to the Household Food Security Survey Module collected from a sample of 438 preschool-aged children (mean age 39 months) and their mothers, logistic regression models were fit to estimate the relationship between household and child food insecurity and child BMI. Separate models were fit for girls and boys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven percent of children from food insecure households and 25 % of child food insecure children were overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 85 %). There were no statistically significant associations between either household or child food insecurity and BMI for the full sample. For girls, but not boys, household food insecurity was associated with BMI z-scores (β = 0.23, p = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although food insecurity and overweight were not significantly associated, a noteworthy proportion of food insecure children were overweight or obese. Programs for young children should address food insecurity and obesity simultaneously by ensuring that young children have regular access to nutrient-dense foods.
authors.affiliation: Family Resiliency Center, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 904 West Nevada Street, MC-081, Urbana, IL, USA. kspeirs@illinois.edu.|University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. kspeirs@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Katherine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Speirs
authors.affiliation: Family Resiliency Center, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 904 West Nevada Street, MC-081, Urbana, IL, USA.|University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Fiese
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D050177:Overweight; D063766:Pediatric Obesity; D011203:Poverty; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Body mass index; Child health; Childhood obesity; Food insecurity; Preschool-aged children