Transitional Dynamics of Household Food Insecurity Impact Children's Developmental Outcomes.
Sara E Grineski, Danielle X Morales, Timothy W Collins and 1 others
PMID 29957684WHAT IT FOUND
Worsening food insecurity was linked to lower first-grade math and working memory scores.
Marginal food insecurity was linked to worse self-control and interpersonal skills, but no food insecurity category was linked to internalizing behaviors.
Key findings
01Deepening food insecurity was associated with significantly lower math and working memory scores in adjusted models.
02Food insecurity transitions were linked to social skills: persisting marginal and remitting marginal worse self-control and interpersonal skills, emerging and persisting more externalizing behaviors, deepening worse self-control, and no significant internalizing findings.
03Adjusted models found no significant food insecurity associations with reading, science, or cognitive flexibility.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is an observational study, so it cannot show that food insecurity caused lower scores or worse behavior. The paper described the analysis as exploratory and did not propose hypotheses. The follow-up covered only kindergarten to first grade, so it cannot say how long effects last. Extreme food insecurity was not examined because only 2.6% of children scored 8 or more on the scale in first grade. The data are from 2010 to 2012 and may not reflect current economic or food-assistance conditions. Children missing one or more school-level variables were excluded, and missing data were imputed, so the analyzed sample may not represent all children. The social skills outcomes relied on teacher ratings, not direct child assessment. The paper reports associations, not tested interventions.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The data came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11, sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat food insecurity as a proven cause of lower math, working memory, self-control, or interpersonal skills. The study observed associations in children and did not assign families to food security, so unmeasured family, school, and economic factors may explain the findings.