Abstract
Food insecurity is a major public health concern characterized by an individual or household lacking access to adequate food to support a healthy lifestyle. Food insecurity has been associated with predisposing or exacerbating mental health symptoms in children. However, the evidence is scarce with regards to Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children. The purpose of this review is to summarize and identify gaps in the existing literature, as well as to explore associations between food insecurity and symptoms of childhood ADHD. Literature for this review was pulled from Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed library databases, with a focus on food insecurity, food insufficiency, hunger, and ADHD symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in children. The limited evidence to date shows a predictive and inverse relationship between childhood experience of food insecurity and symptoms of ADHD, with lasting impacts into adulthood. Evidence exists to hypothesize that childhood food insecurity is associated with predisposing or exacerbating ADHD symptoms in children, yet the literature needed to confirm this relationship is scarce and utilizes inconsistent methodology. Future research is needed to further characterize this complex relationship and inspire community or public health interventions addressing food insecurity in children with ADHD. Additionally, it may be clinically useful to routinely screen for food insecurity when assessing pediatric ADHD symptoms.
Highlights
As of 2017, approximately 12.5 million children in the United States lived in food insecure households [1]
The purpose of this review is to summarize and identify gaps in the current literature exploring the relationships between food insecurity and early childhood Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptom prevalence and severity
A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all studies investigating the associations between food insecurity and symptoms of ADHD
Summary
As of 2017, approximately 12.5 million children in the United States lived in food insecure households [1]. Food insecurity is characterized by an individual or household lacking access to adequate food to support a healthy lifestyle [1]. On the other hand, is characterized by an inadequate amount of food intake due to a lack of money or resources [2]. Hunger is another term frequently associated with a lack of food. It is defined as “short-term physical discomfort as a result of chronic food shortage, or in severe cases, a life-threatening lack of food” [3]. Regardless, lacking consistent, safe, and sufficient food to support a healthy and active lifestyle is accompanied with stress on an individual or the household
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