Profiles of Latino Health: A Closer Look at Child Nutrition Issue No. 5

2015

Profiles of Latino Health

A Closer Look at Latino Child Nutrition

ISSUE 5: LINKS BETWEEN FOOD INSECURITY AND LATINO CHILD OBESITY* There is evidence that household food insecurity—the condition when families do not have enough resources for everyone in the household to eat full and nutritious meals—is related to a heightened risk of overweight and obesity. Hispanic† children experience high rates of both food insecurity and obesity, which puts the Latino community at disproportionately high risk of resulting poorer health outcomes.

WHY DO FOOD INSECURITY AND OBESITY CO-EXIST? Food-insecure and low-income people are especially vulnerable to obesity due to the additional risk factors associated with poverty, including: • • • •

Limited resources Lack of access to healthy, affordable foods Fewer opportunities for physical activity Cycles of food deprivation and overeating

• • •

High levels of stress Greater exposure to marketing of obesity-promoting products Limited access to health care

Source: Food Research and Action Center, Food Insecurity and Obesity: Understanding the Connections (Washington, DC: Food Research and Action Center, 2011), http://frac.org/pdf/frac_brief_understanding_the_connections.pdf (accessed May 2015).

Several studies have found links between child food insecurity, hunger, and increased risk for overweight or obesity.1 •

A national study of about 10,000 children (29% were Mexican American‡) found that the prevalence of obesity was higher among food-insecure children. The likelihood of a child aged 6–11 being obese was 81% higher if the child was food insecure as opposed to food secure.2

•

Another national analysis found that infants and toddlers living in households experiencing food insecurity with hunger were 61% more likely to be overweight than young children in food-secure households.3

•

A study of more than 28,000 children (31.6% were Hispanic) participating in the Massachusetts Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program showed that persistent household food insecurity was associated with 22% greater odds of childhood obesity. Hispanic children in this study had a 51% greater chance of being obese than White children.4

FOOD INSECURITY DEFINED •

Food insecurity: At times during the year, households with food insecurity are “uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all household members because they had insufficient money and other recourses for food.”

•

Food insecurity with hunger: These households are “food insecure to the extent that eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and their food intake reduced, at least some time during the year, because they could not afford enough food.”

Source: Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Mark Nord, and Anita Singh, Household Food Security in the United States in 2012. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Washington, DC, September 2013.

* This profile was authored by Minerva Delgado, Consultant to the Health Policy Project in NCLR’s Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation (ORAL), with substantive input and oversight from Samantha Vargas Poppe, Associate Director, Policy Analysis Center, and Steven Lopez, Manager, Health Policy Project.

It is an update of a document originally released in 2010 and authored by Kara D. Ryan. NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. This brief was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The findings and conclusions presented are those of the author and NCLR alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of our funders. Permission to copy, disseminate, or otherwise use information from this paper is granted, provided that appropriate credit is given to NCLR. † The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably by the U.S. Census Bureau and throughout this document to refer to persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American, Dominican, Spanish, and other Hispanic descent; they may be of any race. Unless otherwise noted, estimates in this document do not include the 3.7 million residents of Puerto Rico. Comparison data for non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks are identified respectively as “Whites” and “Blacks.” ‡ Many studies analyzing overweight and obesity in the Latino population collect data from the Mexican American community, the largest subgroup of Latinos in the United States. While these data can be used to note trends in the Latino community, they do not reflect the full diversity of the Latino population in the United States.

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2015

Profiles of Latino Health

A Closer Look at Latino Child Nutrition

ISSUE 5: LINKS BETWEEN FOOD INSECURITY AND LATINO CHILD OBESITY In times of food insecurity, when resources are low and families fear running out of food, children and families are likely to eat low-cost, high-calorie foods.

•

•

•

Family food insecurity and child hunger often occurs in cycles and can affect Latino health in a variety of ways.

Researchers have found that when there is insufficient money for healthy diets, families adopt a deliberate strategy to stretch the budget and purchase lower-cost foods that are energy-dense (i.e., high in calories) to stave off hunger.5 Foods that have the most calories per dollar are often considered “empty calories” that lack important nutrients and contain added sugars and fats. According to one study, “Fats and oils, sugar, refined grains, potatoes, and beans represented some of the lowest-cost options and provided dietary energy at minimal cost.”6 Researchers found that lower-calorie, perishable products such as fresh produce and lean meats provided less energy per dollar spent.7 For food-insecure families seeking enough food to ensure that no one is hungry, spending on low-calorie foods may feel too risky when the same dollar amount can buy high-calorie foods that seem to be more filling.

•

Research has found that children may be spared the initial effects of food insecurity by their parents, who skip meals themselves and reduce children’s food only when shortages become acute.8,9

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When food becomes available, family members may overcompensate by eating more.10 Researchers studying low-income Mexican American families have suggested that in households experiencing cyclical food insecurity, parents may be willing to allow their children to eat more snacks when resources for food are again available.11

•

Cyclical food insecurity may also affect a person’s metabolism, increasing a person’s propensity to maintain or increase weight. Researchers hypothesize that, over time, periodic reductions in food intake may result in physiological changes whereby the body attempts to build energy reserves by storing more calories as fat.12

Latino children are already at elevated risk of both family food insecurity and overweight and obesity. Understanding the complex links between these concerns can help target interventions to improve Latino children’s nutritional outcomes.

Endnotes 1 While research suggests that child food insecurity is linked to an increased risk of obesity, a definitive link between the two conditions has not been established. For a review of relevant literature, see Nicole Larson and Mary Story, “Food Insecurity and Weight Status Among U.S. Children and Families: A Review of the Literature,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 40, no. 2 (2011): 166–173; J.C. Eisenmann et al., “Is Food Insecurity Related to Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents?

A Summary of Studies, 1995-2009,” Obesity Reviews 12 (2011): e73–e8; and Brandi Franklin et al., “Exploring Mediators of Food Insecurity and Obesity: A Review of Recent Literature,” Journal of Community Health 37 (2012): 253–264.

5 A. Drewnowski and S.E. Specter, “Poverty and Obesity: The Role of Energy Density and Energy Costs,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 79, no. 6 (2004): 6–16; and Center on Hunger and Poverty and Food Research and Action Center, The Paradox of Hunger and Obesity in America (Washington, DC: Food Research and Action Center, 2004).

2 Jasbir Kaur et al., “The Association between Food Insecurity and Obesity in Children - The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 115, no. 5 (2015): 751–758.

9 Molly A. Martin and Adam M. Lippert, “Feeding Her Children, but Risking Her Health: The Intersection of Gender, Household Food Insecurity and Obesity,” Social Science and Medicine 74 (2012): 1754–1764.

6 A. Drewnowski and S.E. Specter, “Poverty and Obesity.”

7 Ibid.

8 Donna M. Matheson et al., “Household Food Security and Nutritional Status of Hispanic Children in the Fifth Grade,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 75 (2002): 210–217.

3 Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew et al., Food Insecurity and Overweight among Infants and Toddlers: New Insights into A Troubling Linkage (Washington, DC: Child Trends, 2007).

4 Elizabeth Metallinos-Katsaras et al., “A Longitudinal Study of Food Insecurity on Obesity in Preschool Children,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 112, no. 12 (December 2012).

10 Center on Hunger and Poverty and Food Research and Action Center, The Paradox of Hunger and Obesity.

11 Lucia L. Kaiser et al., “Food Security and Nutritional Outcomes of Preschool-Age Mexican-American Children,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102, no. 7 (2002): 924–929.

12 Center on Hunger and Poverty and Food Research and Action Center, The Paradox of Hunger and Obesity.

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