Food Insecurity, Food Environment and Obesity Among Urban School-Aged Children in Queretaro, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the relationship between food insecurity, food environment and obesity in school-aged children in Queretaro. Methods In this cross-sectional study, weight, height and body fat % (BF%) were measured in 122 school-aged children (8.1 ± 1.5 y) from an urban area in Queretaro, Mexico. Additionally, household food insecurity was assessed using the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA). Geolocation data of both food establishments (FE) and participants’ households (HH) were collected and uploaded into a GIS database. The distance to the closest FE within a 300 m radius from each participant's household was calculated using GIS. FE were categorized as follows: (1) FEPF, which mainly sold processed foods (e.g., convenient stores); and (2) FEnPF, which mainly sold non-processed foods (e.g., fruterías – only fruits and vegetables). Univariate analysis was used to assess the interaction of BF%, food insecurity and FE categories using SPSS v23.0. Results Almost half of the children showed high BF% (48%), while 43% lived in HH with some degree of food insecurity. Children in moderately/severely food insecure HH and who lived close to FEnPF had significantly lower BF% (18.9 ± 4.7%), compared to children in food secure HH (24.4 ± 2.5%) or HH experiencing mild food insecurity (25.0 ± 2.6%) (P < 0.05). However, children in moderately/severely food insecure HH, who lived close to FEPF had significantly higher BF% (29.4 ± 2.7%), compared to those experiencing mild food insecurity (23.7 ± 1.5%), or who were food secure (22.8 ± 1.1%) (P < 0.05). Conclusions Children living in moderately/severely food insecure HH showed an opposite BF% pattern when compared to those in food secure or mildly food insecure HH, depending on how close they live to FE that either mainly sold processed foods or unprocessed foods, indicating the potential relationship of food environment to childhood obesity mediated by food insecurity. Funding Sources Partially funded by FOFI, UAQ.