QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jyoti, D. F. Articles by Jones, S. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jyoti, D. F. Articles by Jones, S. J.

---

Community and International Nutrition

Food Insecurity Affects School Children’s Academic Performance, Weight Gain, and Social Skills^1,2,3

Division of Nutritional Sciences, Savage Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6301 and ^* Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, SC 29204

⁴To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: eaf1{at}cornell.edu.

ABSTRACT

Food insecurity has been associated with diverse developmental consequences for U.S. children primarily from cross-sectional studies. We used longitudinal data to investigate how food insecurity over time related to changes in reading and mathematics test performance, weight and BMI, and social skills in children. Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, a prospective sample of 21,000 nationally representative children entering kindergarten in 1998 and followed through 3rd grade. Food insecurity was measured by parent interview using a modification of the USDA module in which households were classified as food insecure if they reported 1 affirmative response in the past year. Households were grouped into 4 categories based on the temporal occurrence of food insecurity in kindergarten and 3rd grade. Children’s academic performance, height, and weight were assessed directly. Children’s social skills were reported by teachers. Analyses examined the effects of modified food insecurity on changes in child outcomes using lagged, dynamic, and difference (i.e., fixed-effects) models and controlling for child and household contextual variables. In lagged models, food insecurity was predictive of poor developmental trajectories in children before controlling for other variables. Food insecurity thus serves as an important marker for identifying children who fare worse in terms of subsequent development. In all models with controls, food insecurity was associated with outcomes, and associations differed by gender. This study provides the strongest empirical evidence to date that food insecurity is linked to specific developmental consequences for children, and that these consequences may be both nutritional and nonnutritional.

KEY WORDS: • food insecurity • child development • overweight • academic • longitudinal

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. K. Saha, E. A. Frongillo, D. S. Alam, S. E. Arifeen, L. A. Persson, and K. M. Rasmussen Household Food Security Is Associated with Infant Feeding Practices in Rural Bangladesh J. Nutr., July 1, 2008; 138(7): 1383 - 1390. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. T. COOK and D. A. FRANK Food Security, Poverty, and Human Development in the United States Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., June 1, 2008; 1136(1): 193 - 209. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Gonzalez, A. Jimenez, G. Madrigal, L. M. Munoz, and E. A. Frongillo Development and Validation of Measure of Household Food Insecurity in Urban Costa Rica Confirms Proposed Generic Questionnaire J. Nutr., March 1, 2008; 138(3): 587 - 592. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Gundersen, B. J. Lohman, J. C. Eisenmann, S. Garasky, and S. D. Stewart Child-Specific Food Insecurity and Overweight Are Not Associated in a Sample of 10- to 15-Year-Old Low-Income Youth J. Nutr., February 1, 2008; 138(2): 371 - 378. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Rose-Jacobs, M. M. Black, P. H. Casey, J. T. Cook, D. B. Cutts, M. Chilton, T. Heeren, S. M. Levenson, A. F. Meyers, and D. A. Frank Household Food Insecurity: Associations With At-Risk Infant and Toddler Development Pediatrics, January 1, 2008; 121(1): 65 - 72. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Isanaka, M. Mora-Plazas, S. Lopez-Arana, A. Baylin, and E. Villamor Food Insecurity Is Highly Prevalent and Predicts Underweight but Not Overweight in Adults and School Children from Bogota, Colombia J. Nutr., December 1, 2007; 137(12): 2747 - 2755. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				The NEMO Study Group Effect of a 12-mo micronutrient intervention on learning and memory in well-nourished and marginally nourished school-aged children: 2 parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled studies in Australia and Indonesia Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, October 1, 2007; 86(4): 1082 - 1093. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. C. Whitaker and A. Sarin Change in Food Security Status and Change in Weight Are Not Associated in Urban Women with Preschool Children J. Nutr., September 1, 2007; 137(9): 2134 - 2139. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Bronte-Tinkew, M. Zaslow, R. Capps, A. Horowitz, and M. McNamara Food Insecurity Works through Depression, Parenting, and Infant Feeding to Influence Overweight and Health in Toddlers J. Nutr., September 1, 2007; 137(9): 2160 - 2165. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. C. Whitaker, S. M. Phillips, and S. M. Orzol Food Insecurity and the Risks of Depression and Anxiety in Mothers and Behavior Problems in their Preschool-Aged Children Pediatrics, September 1, 2006; 118(3): e859 - e868. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. A. Frongillo, D. F. Jyoti, and S. J. Jones Food Stamp Program Participation Is Associated with Better Academic Learning among School Children J. Nutr., April 1, 2006; 136(4): 1077 - 1080. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]