Cereal intake is associated with an improved nutrient intake profile among food insecure children in the United States: Results from NHANES 2003–08

Food insecurity affects a significant percentage of U.S. children. The prevalence of food insecurity is a result of limited income and limited access to nutritious food. Food insecurity affects households not through limited food intake but by reducing food quality and variety. Our objective was to understand the impact of consuming cereal (a relatively inexpensive, widely available food) on nutrient intake in food secure and insecure children. Data from NHANES 2003–08 were used to categorize children ages 4–12 as either fully food secure or not fully food secure. The children within these groups were further classified as either cereal eaters or non‐cereal eaters based day‐ 1 intake. Cereal consumption was associated with an improved nutrient intake profile for both food secure and non‐secure. However, the improvement seen was greater among the food insecure children for niacin and iron (p< 0.05) and thiamin and folic acid (p<0.10). These results suggest access to foods rich in nutrition but low in cost, such as cereal, the adverse nutritional effects of food insecurity can be mitigated.