Shielding children from food insecurity and its association with mental health and well-being in Canadian households.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Adults in food-insecure households will often sacrifice their own nutritional needs so that children are fed first. This shielding may protect children from malnutrition, but its links to mental health and well-being have not been closely examined. The aim of this study is to explore these links.

Methods

We used data from three cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 28,871 youth, 74,416 adults) to identify shielded children (those who reported not being food insecure but lived in food-insecure households). Using Poisson regression, we examined youth and adult mental health and well-being (mood disorder, anxiety disorder, fair/poor mental health, fair/poor health, and low life satisfaction) in shielding households compared to food-secure households and

SUBMITTER: Ovenell M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8975915 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature