Adverse Childhood Experiences and Household Food Insecurity: Findings From the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health.

INTRODUCTION: Research has linked adverse childhood experiences to a host of negative health outcomes. The present study examines the link between individual and cumulative adverse childhood experience exposure and household food insecurity in a recent, nationally representative sample of children, and whether parent self-rated well-being attenuates these associations. METHODS: Data from the 2016 National Survey of children's Health were analyzed in 2018 (n=50,212). Information concerning children's exposure to multiple forms of adversity, household availability of food, and parent self-rated well-being were available in the data. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to analyze the data. RESULTS: Findings suggest that the accumulation of adverse childhood experiences is associated with higher odds of food insecurity, with stronger associations between adverse childhood experience accumulation and moderate-to-severe food insecurity. Compared with no adverse childhood experience exposure, exposure to 3 or more adverse experiences corresponded to an 8.14-fold increase in the RR of moderate-to-severe food insecurity. Self-rated parent physical and mental well-being partially attenuated these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Policies aimed at minimizing adverse childhood experience exposure among children may have important collateral benefits in the form of reduced household hunger. Existing nutrition assistance programs may be enhanced by linking children and families to programs that bolster parent and child well-being; addressing community and family violence; and providing support for caregivers to prevent abuse, hardship, and exposure to the criminal justice system.

Household Food Insufficiency and Children Witnessing Physical Violence in the Home: Do Family Mental Illness and Substance Misuse Moderate the Association?

Objectives Research to date indicates that parents and children residing in food insufficient homes incur a host of negative health outcomes. Recently, studies have suggested that these homes are also at risk of violence between family members. Our objective is to examine the link between household food insufficiency and physical violence in the home using a recent, nationally representative sample, and to determine whether family mental illness and/or substance misuse inform this association. Methods A sample of nearly 50,000 children and families from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health were employed in the study. Information concerning household access to food, experiences of violence between parents/adults, and associated mental health and substance use risk factors were available in the data. Logistic regression, employed in a hierarchical fashion, was utilized to analyze the data. Results Household food insufficiency was associated with an increased risk of children witnessing physical violence in the home, and this was especially pronounced in the case of moderate-to-severe food insufficiency. Findings also indicated that family mental illness and substance misuse partly attenuated this association and that household food insufficiency was more strongly associated with violence in the home in the absence of mental health and substance use risk factors. Conclusions for Practice Polices aimed at diminishing food insufficiency may have important collateral benefits in the form of reductions in family violence, and these benefits appear to extend to families that are otherwise at low risk of family violence.

The role of neighborhoods in household food insufficiency: Considering interactions between physical disorder, low social capital, violence, and perceptions of danger.

RATIONALE: Food insecurity is a significant public health concern, with implications for community and individual health and well-being. Although a growing body of literature points to the role of neighborhoods in household food insecurity, studies using nationally representative samples to explore interactions between neighborhood risks - including violence and danger - are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The present study examines whether interactions between physical disorder, low social capital, and violence/danger in the neighborhood have significant implications for the risk of household food insufficiency using a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. children and their families. METHOD: Data are from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health, a survey of a cross-sectional weighted probability sample of U.S. children from 0 to 17 years of age. Multinomial logistic regression techniques were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Neighborhood risk factors interacted to predict household food insufficiency, with the confluence of low social capital and violence/danger yielding the strongest effects. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that food hardship should be addressed within the context of neighborhood revitalization. The risk of food insufficiency among children and families in especially high-risk ecological contexts might be ameliorated with the provision of informal and formal sources of nutrition assistance and support.

Does breast-feeding reduce offspring junk food consumption during childhood? Examinations by socio-economic status and race/ethnicity.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether breast-feeding duration and socio-economic status (SES) interact to predict junk food consumption among offspring and whether the interaction differs across racial/ethnic groups. DESIGN: Survey research using a longitudinal panel design. Hierarchical linear regression was used to analyse the data. SETTING: In-home interviews with the child's parents over a 5-year period across the USA. SUBJECTS: Approximately 10 000 American children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). RESULTS: The findings revealed that longer breast-feeding durations correspond to lower levels of junk food consumption, but that this relationship emerges consistently only among low-SES blacks. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to promote breast-feeding among low-SES black women may have the added benefit of reducing their children's junk food intake, and may thereby promote their general health and well-being. Future research should seek to explore the mechanisms by which breast-feeding might benefit the dietary habits of low-SES black children.