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Food security and weight status in children of Mexican immigrant households
Author(s) -
Kaiser Lucia,
Becerra Luz Vera
Publication year - 2011
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.25.1_supplement.226.4
Subject(s) - food insecurity , food security , immigration , environmental health , geography , demography , scale (ratio) , body mass index , socioeconomics , medicine , economics , sociology , agriculture , archaeology , cartography , pathology
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of food insecurity to child growth among Mexican households, with at least one child between 1–6 years, living in California (CA) or Mexico (MX). From April to October of 2006, Spanish‐speaking staff conducted interviews and weighed and measured children in a community‐based sample of households from Ventura, CA (n= 100) and two sites in Guanajuato, MX (n=205). Based on the 8‐item Children's Food Security scale, MX households reported higher levels of food insecurity, compared to CA households: food secure (MX 27%; CA 60%); low food secure (MX 56.5%; CA 36.8%); and very low food secure (MX 16.5%; CA 3.2%). Using analysis of variance, a significant interaction between country and food insecurity on body‐mass index z‐score (BAZ) was found. In the US sample, greater food insecurity was associated with higher BAZ, whereas no relationship between food insecurity and BAZ was observed in MX (F=8.96; p < 0.001). No interaction or main effect was observed on height‐for‐age z‐score. Future studies should explore the food patterns in binational samples to understand the relationship of food insecurity to child growth. Funded by UCMEXUS, California Mexico Health Initiative