Unpacking Associations between Food Insecurity, Inhibitory Control, and Body Mass Index in Preschoolers

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - Health, Growth, Injury

Abstract

One in five children in the U.S. are considered food insecure (Nord et al., 2008), and food insecurity is more prevalent in children from low-income families (Gunderson et. al, 2009). Evidence supporting the association between food insecurity and body mass index (BMI) in early childhood is mixed (Eisenmann et al., 2011; Spiers & Fiese, 2016). Inhibitory control (IC) may provide insight into the association between food insecurity and BMI given its relation to BMI (Mamrot & Hanć, 2019) and food insecurity (Grineski et al., 2018); yet, previous research has not explored this possibility. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether indirect effects emerge from food insecurity to BMI through IC and if IC moderates the association between food security and BMI in a sample of preschoolers.
Data comes from a larger evaluation study of a public prekindergarten (pre-k) program. Participants included 126 children and their parents who qualified for childcare subsidies. Children were approximately 5-years-old (42% female). Average monthly income was $1,678 (SD = 965.06). All data were collected in the spring of prekindergarten. Child food insecurity was assessed using the 8 child-referenced items of the 18-item Food Security Survey Module (Bickel et al., 2000). Parents responded to how frequently each food scarcity event occurred over the past year, with affirmative responses coded as 1. A series of dummy codes were created to represent whether the child experiences food security, food insecurity without hunger, or food insecurity with hunger. IC was measured using the Day-Night Stroop (Gerstadt et al., 1994). Weight and height were collected, and BMI percentiles were obtained using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) BMI calculator (2020).
Structural equation models with children clustered in their preschool classrooms were utilized, controlling for child age, gender, monthly income, group (e.g., state pre-k), partner status, parent education, and number of children in the home. Full information maximum likelihood was used to account for missing data. Results revealed a positive direct effect of food insecurity with hunger on children’s BMI (b = 55.44, SE = 12.06, p < .001), but no significant indirect effect working through IC. A significant interaction between IC and food insecurity emerged for children who were food insecure with hunger (b = 7.46, SE = 2.37, p < .01), indicating that when children have low IC, being food insecure with hunger is predictive of lower BMI.
Results suggest that IC may impact the association between food insecurity and BMI in preschool children from low-income families. Specifically, children with low IC may actually become underweight when experiencing food insecurity with hunger. One in five children are considered food insecure in the U.S., and thus, understanding the potential influence of early cognition (i.e., IC) on the effects of food insecurity is imperative for future health guidelines and policies that seek to aid both the physical and cognitive development of children.

Authors

• Mariah Ireland, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Presenting Author

• Lindsey Bryant, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Kristine Finders, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert Duncan, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author

• David James Purpura, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sara Anne Schmitt, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author