Journal
PLOS ONE
Volume 7, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052615
Keywords
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Categories
Funding
- Quebec's Ministry of Health and Social Services
- Quebec Fund for Research on Society and Culture (Fonds quebecois de la recherche sur la societe et la culture)
- Quebec Fund for Research on Nature and Technology (Fonds quebecois de la recherche sur la nature et la technologie)
- Health Research Fund of Quebec (Fonds de recherche en sante du Quebec)
- Quebec's Ministry of Research, Science, and Technology
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Human Resources Development Canada
- Health Canada
- Lucie and Andre Chagnon Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- University of Montreal
- Laval University
- McGill University
- French National Research Agency
- Canada Research Chair program
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Food insecurity (which can be defined as inadequate access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets individuals' dietary needs) is concurrently associated with children's psychological difficulties. However, the predictive role of food insecurity with regard to specific types of children's mental health symptoms has not previously been studied. We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec, LSCDQ, a representative birth cohort study of children born in the Quebec region, in Canada, in 1997-1998 (n = 2120). Family food insecurity was ascertained when children were 11/2 and 41/2 years old. Children's mental health symptoms were assessed longitudinally using validated measures of behaviour at ages 41/2, 5, 6 and 8 years. Symptom trajectory groups were estimated to identify children with persistently high levels of depression/anxiety (21.0%), aggression (26.2%), and hyperactivity/inattention (6.0%). The prevalence of food insecurity in the study was 5.9%. In sex-adjusted analyses, children from food-insecure families were disproportionately likely to experience persistent symptoms of depression/anxiety (OR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.15-2.79) and hyperactivity/inattention (OR: 3.06, 95% CI 1.68-5.55). After controlling for immigrant status, family structure, maternal age at child's birth, family income, maternal and paternal education, prenatal tobacco exposure, maternal and paternal depression and negative parenting, only persistent hyperactivity/inattention remained associated with food insecurity (fully adjusted OR: 2.65, 95% CI 1.16-6.06). Family food insecurity predicts high levels of children's mental health symptoms, particularly hyperactivity/inattention. Addressing food insecurity and associated problems in families could help reduce the burden of mental health problems in children and reduce social inequalities in development.
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