TY - JOUR
T1 - Food insecurity and childhood outcomes
T2 - A cross-sectional analysis of 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health data
AU - Elenwo, Covenant
AU - Fisch, Claudia
AU - Hendrix-Dicken, Amy
AU - Coffey, Sara
AU - Wetherill, Marianna S.
AU - Hartwell, Micah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - Context: Racial inequalities across social determinants of health (SDOHs) are often influenced by discriminatory policies that reinforce systems that further uphold these disparities. There is limited data describing the influence of food insecurity (FI) on childhood racial discrimination. Objectives: Our objective was to determine if the likelihood of experiencing racial discrimination was exacerbated by FI. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to extract data on childhood racial discrimination and food security. We extracted sociodemographic variables to utilize as controls and constructed logistic regression models to determine associations, via odds ratios (ORs), between food security and whether the child experienced racial discrimination. Results: We found statistically significant associations between experiencing FI and childhood racial discrimination. Individuals who experienced food shortages were significantly more likely to experience racial discrimination compared to those without food limitations when controlling for race, food voucher usage, age, and % federal poverty guidelines (FPG, adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.34; 95 % CI: 2.69-4.14). Conclusions: Our study found that parents of minority children all reported high rates of racial discrimination, which was exacerbated by concurrent FI. Children of families that were the most food insecure reported the highest percentage of racial discrimination at 11.13 %, compared with children who always had enough nutritious meals to eat at 2.87 %. Acknowledging the intersection that exists between FI, race, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES), might be a way forward in addressing the adverse health effects experienced by food-insecure children and adults.
AB - Context: Racial inequalities across social determinants of health (SDOHs) are often influenced by discriminatory policies that reinforce systems that further uphold these disparities. There is limited data describing the influence of food insecurity (FI) on childhood racial discrimination. Objectives: Our objective was to determine if the likelihood of experiencing racial discrimination was exacerbated by FI. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to extract data on childhood racial discrimination and food security. We extracted sociodemographic variables to utilize as controls and constructed logistic regression models to determine associations, via odds ratios (ORs), between food security and whether the child experienced racial discrimination. Results: We found statistically significant associations between experiencing FI and childhood racial discrimination. Individuals who experienced food shortages were significantly more likely to experience racial discrimination compared to those without food limitations when controlling for race, food voucher usage, age, and % federal poverty guidelines (FPG, adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.34; 95 % CI: 2.69-4.14). Conclusions: Our study found that parents of minority children all reported high rates of racial discrimination, which was exacerbated by concurrent FI. Children of families that were the most food insecure reported the highest percentage of racial discrimination at 11.13 %, compared with children who always had enough nutritious meals to eat at 2.87 %. Acknowledging the intersection that exists between FI, race, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES), might be a way forward in addressing the adverse health effects experienced by food-insecure children and adults.
KW - childhood development
KW - food insecurity
KW - food insufficiency
KW - food scarcity
KW - pediatric health
KW - pediatric outcomes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195085947&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/jom-2024-0016
DO - 10.1515/jom-2024-0016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85195085947
SN - 2702-3648
VL - 124
SP - 407
EP - 415
JO - Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
JF - Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
IS - 9
ER -