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Investigating effects of food insecurity and food assistance program participation on children using the ECLS‐K data
Author(s) -
Frongillo Edward A,
Jones Sonya J
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a54
Subject(s) - food insecurity , food stamp program , longitudinal study , psychology , early childhood , reading (process) , longitudinal data , diversity (politics) , developmental psychology , causality (physics) , environmental health , food security , demography , medicine , economics , geography , political science , food stamps , mathematics , welfare , sociology , statistics , law , agriculture , archaeology , quantum mechanics , market economy , physics
U.S. food assistance programs aim to prevent household food insecurity and its consequences. Programs may either counteract or modify the effects of food insecurity. Our research aimed to determine the relationships of food insecurity and program participation with child reading and mathematics learning, weight gain, and social skills, and whether these relationships depended on estimated program need. Data used were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten cohort which has several advantages: longitudinal design with multiple years of follow‐up, large sample size, national representation, and wide diversity of measures, including measured weight and height. The design allows use of analytic methods to minimize bias resulting from unmeasured covariates and help establish direction of causality. From Kindergarten to third grade, food‐insecure girls learned less in reading. Girls participating in the Food Stamp or National School Lunch Program learned more mathematics and reading. Girls with lower estimated need learned more mathematics if they participated in the School Breakfast Program. This study provides strong plausible evidence that food insecurity has detrimental effects and that program participation has beneficial effects on non‐nutritional outcomes. The mechanisms are not well‐understood, and may be through effects on both dietary intake and family stress.