Even Very Low Levels of Food Insecurity Found to Harm Children’s Health

Author(s): John T. Cook, PhD; Elizabeth L. March, MCP; Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, MPH; Sharon Coleman, MS, MPH
Published in: Policy Action Brief

Research by Children’s HealthWatch found that children suffer negative health and developmental effects at very low levels of inadequate access to nutritious food. Children under age three in marginally food-secure households were found to have health outcomes that are significantly worse than children in fully food-secure households.

They are more likely to:

• Be in fair/poor health
• Be at risk for developmental delays
• Have been hospitalized since birth
• Lack stable housing
• Live in households with inadequate heating or cooling
• Have caregivers experiencing symptoms of depression
• Have caregivers with fair/poor health

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