Household food insecurity and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the United States: the Healthy Communities Study.

Sophia M Navarro,Marisa M Tsai,Russell R Pate,Lauren E Au,Barbara A Laraia,Lorrene D Ritchie,Edward A Frongillo

doi:10.1017/s1368980021002536

Abstract

To examine associations between household food insecurity and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Secondary analysis was conducted on the Healthy Communities Study, an observational study from 2013 to 2015. Household food insecurity was assessed by two items from the US Department of Agriculture's 18-item US Household Food Security Survey Module. Physical activity was measured using the 7-d Physical Activity Behaviour Recall instrument. Data were analysed using multilevel statistical modelling. A total of 130 communities in the USA. In sum, 5138 US children aged 4-15 years. No associations were found for the relationship between household food insecurity and child physical activity. A significant interaction between household food insecurity and child sex for sedentary behaviours was observed (P = 0·03). Additional research capturing a more detailed assessment of children's experiences of food insecurity in relation to physical activity is warranted. Future studies may consider adopting qualitative study designs or utilising food insecurity measures that specifically target child-level food insecurity. Subsequent research may also seek to further explore sub-group analyses by sex.

Highlights

The prevalence of household food insecurity was highest for those living in the Southern USA (11·2 %) and in the principal cities of metropolitan areas (12·4 %)(1)
A high prevalence of household food insecurity was observed in children whose parents had a maximum educational attainment of some college or Associate degree or less (87·9 %)
Those living in the Southern USA (43·7 %) had higher prevalence of household food insecurity

Summary

Methods

Study design and participants The Healthy Communities Study is a cross-sectional observational study of 5138 US children designed to assess the impact of community programmes and policies addressing childhood obesity on child diet, physical activity and weight outcomes. Participants included those 4–15 years in grades K-8 and were chosen from a diverse sample of 130 communities, defined as high-school catchment areas, across the country between 2013 and 2015. The Battelle Memorial Institute Institutional Review Board approved the study protocol, and parents provided written informed consent for child participation. A more detailed explanation of participant recruitment, study design and data collection are included in papers by Sagatov et al, Strass et al and John et al[13,14,15]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion