Shielding children from food insecurity and its association with mental health and well-being in Canadian households

Ovenell, Margaret; Silva, Marine Azevedo Da; Elgar, Frank J.

doi:10.17269/s41997-021-00597-2

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…UFSM has the potential to positively impact on mental health and quality of life as addressing food insecurity can lead to an improvement in these outcomes [ 6 ]. Parents also described how they shielded their children from these realities, something observed in previous studies [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], suggesting that food insecurity scores from our student survey are likely to be an underestimate. It is known that even marginal levels of food insecurity are associated with poorer educational and behavioural outcomes [ 7 ], and other studies show that this may be improved with provision of UFSM [ 11 , 13 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

A Mixed Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Exploring the Impact of a Secondary School Universal Free School Meals Intervention Pilot

Carlisle

Jessiman

Breheny

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Food insecurity amongst households with children is a growing concern globally. The impacts in children include poor mental health and reduced educational attainment. Providing universal free school meals is one potential way of addressing these impacts. This paper reports findings on the impact of a universal free school meals pilot in two English secondary schools. We adopted a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design. The intervention schools were one mainstream school (n = 414) and one school for students with special educational needs (n = 105). Two other schools were used as comparators (n = 619; n = 117). The data collection comprised a cross sectional student survey during the pilot (n = 404); qualitative interviews with students (n = 28), parents (n = 20) and school staff (n = 12); and student observations of lunchtimes (n = 57). Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis, and descriptive analyses and logistic regressions were conducted on the quantitative data. Self-reports of food insecurity were high at both intervention (26.6%) and comparator schools (25.8%). No effects of the intervention were seen in the quantitative findings on either hunger or food insecurity. Qualitative findings indicated that students, families and staff perceived positive impact on a range of outcomes including food insecurity, hunger, school performance, family stress and a reduction in stigma associated with means-tested free school meals. Our research provides promising evidence in support of universal free school meals in secondary schools as a strategy for addressing growing food insecurity. Future research should robustly test the impact of universal free school meals in a larger sample of secondary schools, using before and after measures as well as a comparator group.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

A Mixed Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Exploring the Impact of a Secondary School Universal Free School Meals Intervention Pilot

Carlisle

Jessiman

Breheny

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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“…A multivariable logistic regression model was then run including all sociodemographic characteristics to estimate adjusted odds ratios of household food insecurity. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to assess associations between severity of household food insecurity and sociodemographic characteristics, recognizing that moderate and severe food insecurity are much more strongly associated with negative health outcomes than marginal food insecurity (Hutchinson & Tarasuk, 2021;Men et al, 2021a;Ovenell et al, 2022). In all regression analyses, adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated with person weights and 1000 bootstrap replicates provided by Statistics Canada.…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey, the most recent nationally representative data available, one in five 12-17 year-olds lived in a household affected by some level of food insecurity, compared to one in ten adults 50-64 years of age and almost one in twenty adults 65 and older (Polsky & Garriguet, 2022). Although the health implications of food insecurity for adolescents have not been studied as extensively as those for adults in this country, adolescents in food-insecure households in Canada have poorer quality dietary intakes (Hutchinson & Tarasuk, 2021), higher odds of mental health problems (Men et al, 2021a;Ovenell et al, 2022), and higher incidence of injuries (Men et al, 2021b) compared to adolescents in food-secure households. In the United States, where there has been considerably more research on the relationship between household food insecurity and the health of children and youth, food insecurity among adolescents has been shown to increase their odds of elevated blood pressure and prediabetes (Lee et al, 2019), dyslipidemia (Tester et al, 2016), iron-deficiency anemia (Eicher-Miller et al, 2009), and lower bone mass (Eicher-Miller et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The prevalence and predictors of household food insecurity among adolescents in Canada

Liu

Urquía

Tarasuk

2023

Can J Public Health

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Objectives Household food insecurity is almost four times more prevalent among adolescents than among older adults in Canada, and it adversely affects their health. Our objective was to describe the sociodemographic and geographic patterning of household food insecurity among adolescents. Methods Our analytic sample comprised all 12–17-year-old respondents to the 2017–2018 Canadian Community Health Survey with complete data on household food insecurity (n = 8416). We used bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models to identify respondent- and household-level sociodemographic characteristics associated with household food insecurity. Results The prevalence of household food insecurity among adolescents was 20.7%. The adjusted odds of food insecurity were significantly elevated among adolescents who identified as Black or Indigenous (aOR 1.80), those living with a single parent (aOR 1.60), those living with a greater number of children ≤ 5 years (aOR 1.45) or 12–17 years (aOR 1.25), those in rented accommodation (aOR 1.98), those in households with only secondary school education (aOR 1.38), and those in households reliant on social assistance (aOR 2.03). Higher before-tax income was protective (aOR 0.99). In comparison with Ontario, the adjusted odds of food insecurity among adolescents were higher in Nunavut (aOR 6.77), Northwest Territories (aOR 2.11), and Alberta (aOR 1.48), and lower in Manitoba (aOR 0.66). Conclusion The markedly higher odds of exposure to household food insecurity among adolescents who are Black or Indigenous and those living in households characterized by markers of social and economic disadvantage highlight the need for more effective policy interventions to protect vulnerable families from this hardship.

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“…In some households, parents may choose to try to shield their children from the physiological and psychological effects of food insecurity by making sure that the children are fed first and sacrificing their own nutritional needs (Coleman-Jensen et al, 2013;Ovenell et al, 2022). However, recent research has shown that shielding is less effective than parents may think.…”

Section: Food Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, results from a recent study examining food security in Canadian families showed that while attempting to shield children from the impact of food insecurity may protect them from the physiological effects (i.e., hunger), it does not protect children from the psychological effects (i.e., stress, anxiety, etc. ; Ovenell et al, 2022). It has been suggested that this is a result of children being aware of their family’s financial situation, despite parental efforts to withhold financial information.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of familism in food insecurity, role overload, and depressive symptoms among Latinx youth.

Bermudez,

Iturriaga,

Marroquin

et al. 2023

Journal of Latinx Psychology

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Food insecurity is a growing problem for families in the United States, specifically low-income households. Latinx youth are more likely to experience economic hardship as illustrated by the upward of 6 million Latinx children currently living in poverty. Given the link between food insecurity and economic hardship, more responsibility in the household can be placed on adolescents, which can lead to adolescents feeling a sense of role overload. Regarding Latinx adolescents, this manifests itself commonly as a form of family obligations. Family obligation is a core factor of a Latinx cultural value referred to as familism. This study evaluated the relationships between food insecurity, role overload, familism, and depressive symptoms among 193 Latinx youth (Mage = 15.90 years, 54.4% female) from the southeast United States. The present study was guided by the family stress model. Hierarchal linear regression was used to test hypotheses. Results indicated that both food insecurity and role overload were positively related to depressive symptoms. While familism did not significantly moderate the relationships between food insecurity, role overload, and depression, respectively, there was a significant three-way interaction between these variables, showing potential protective factors.

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Shielding children from food insecurity and its association with mental health and well-being in Canadian households

Cited by 22 publications

References 26 publications

A Mixed Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Exploring the Impact of a Secondary School Universal Free School Meals Intervention Pilot

A Mixed Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Exploring the Impact of a Secondary School Universal Free School Meals Intervention Pilot

The prevalence and predictors of household food insecurity among adolescents in Canada

The role of familism in food insecurity, role overload, and depressive symptoms among Latinx youth.

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