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Understanding Associations Between Food Insecurity And Family And Child Wellbeing

Sat, March 23, 12:45 to 2:15pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 319

Integrative Statement

Food insecurity is a national crisis that impacts staggering numbers of children: indeed in 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement sounding the alarm about the shocking prevalence of food insecurity among households with children in the United States (20% of U.S. households with children; Gitterman, 2015). We now know that food insecurity in a child’s early years – from birth to age 5 – may be particularly harmful: children who experience food insecurity in early childhood enter kindergarten with fewer academic and social skills than their food-secure peers (Johnson & Markowitz, 2017). This is of great policy concern, given that early disparities present in kindergarten tend to persist as children age (Reardon, 2011).

Emerging research points to intermediary processes that may explain the negative effects of food insecurity in this birth to age 5 period on kindergarten readiness: food insecurity in early childhood is associated with worse maternal physical and mental health, greater marital conflict between parents, and more harsh and hostile interactions both between parents and from parents to children (Johnson & Markowitz, in press). What is not yet known, however, is whether those parent wellbeing variables explain observed associations between food insecurity in early childhood and children’s kindergarten cognitive and social skills, and the role of food assistance programs available to parents of young children – SNAP and WIC – mute the negative effects of food insecurity on parent wellbeing, child outcomes, or both.

To address these unanswered questions, we use data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort, which administered the USDA’s Core Food Security Module, gathered parent-reported information about parent wellbeing and household characteristics including food assistance receipt, and directly assessed child development (cognitive and social outcomes). Longitudinal data were collected when children were 9-months old, 2-years old, in preschool, and in kindergarten. This analysis focuses on families who were low-income (income at or below 185% of the federal poverty line), as prior research finds the prevalence of food insecurity to be concentrated among low-income families (analytic sample N ≈ 6650-7950, depending on outcome).

Preliminary results from OLS regression models with rich controls suggest that negative associations between food insecurity when children are infants and toddlers are strongest for children of depressed mothers and children whose mothers report high levels of marital conflict and negativity. Receipt of SNAP or SNAP and WIC appears to reduce negative associations between food insecurity and children’s cognitive outcomes, and between food insecurity and parental depression, for families who experience moderate levels of food insecurity relative to no food insecurity. Next steps include estimating structural equation models to test whether associations between food insecurity and child kindergarten outcomes are mediated by a range of family wellbeing variables, whether associations are strongest among the most vulnerable mothers (e.g., those with low levels of education; those who are single).

Results from this study will inform very active current debates about modifying the existing food safety net, particularly with respect to targeting food assistance programming to those families and children who may need such assistance the most.

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