Food Sufficiency - Children in Montana

Montana

Access to sufficient food is critical for proper nutrition and health in both children and adults. Children are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of food insecurity, the lack of consistent access to enough food, because their brains and bodies are still developing. Among children, food insecurity is associated with anemia, asthma, depression and anxiety, cognitive and behavioral problems and increased risk of hospitalization.

Direct and indirect health-related costs among children and adults attributed to hunger and food insecurity were conservatively estimated at $160 billion in 2014. The estimate rises to roughly $179 billion after adding education-related costs, such as special education support and school dropout costs. The cost of excess health care expenditures associated with food insecurity were an estimated $52.9 billion in 2016.

The prevalence of food sufficiency is higher among:

• Non-Hispanic white and Asian children compared with non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children. 
• Children from higher-income households compared with those from lower-income households.  
• Children from households with an adult who has a college degree or higher compared with children from households with an adult whose highest education level is lower than a college degree.

In primary care settings, pediatricians can use screening tools to identify food insecurity in households with children. Educating medical students and residents on food insecurity may also help address food insecurity.

Studies show that food assistance programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may reduce food insecurity in children. Recommended improvements to these food assistance programs include:

• Expanding SNAP benefits. 
• Connecting more children from underserved communities to the programs. 
• Improving nutrition quality of the programs through science-based standards and guidelines.

Healthy People 2030 has a goal to eliminate very low food security in children.

Berkowitz, Seth A., Sanjay Basu, Craig Gundersen, and Hilary K. Seligman. “State-Level and County-Level Estimates of Health Care Costs Associated with Food Insecurity.” Preventing Chronic Disease 16 (July 11, 2019): 180549. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.180549.

Cook, John, and Karen Jeng. “Child Food Insecurity: The Economic Impact on Our Nation.” Chicago, IL: Feeding America, 2009. https://www.nokidhungry.org/sites/default/files/child-economy-study.pdf.

Gitterman, Benjamin A., Lance A. Chilton, William H. Cotton, James H. Duffee, Patricia Flanagan, Virginia A. Keane, Scott D. Krugman, et al. “Promoting Food Security for All Children.” Pediatrics 136, no. 5 (November 1, 2015): e1431–38. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-3301.

Gundersen, Craig, and James P. Ziliak. “Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes.” Health Affairs 34, no. 11 (November 1, 2015): 1830–39. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645.

Hartline-Grafton, Heather, and Sandra G. Hassink. “Food Insecurity and Health: Practices and Policies to Address Food Insecurity among Children.” Academic Pediatrics, July 2020, S1876285920304265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.07.006.

Huang, Jin, and Ellen Barnidge. “Low-Income Children’s Participation in the National School Lunch Program and Household Food Insufficiency.” Social Science & Medicine 150 (February 1, 2016): 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.12.020.

Kreider, Brent, John V. Pepper, and Manan Roy. “Identifying the Effect of WIC on Very Low Food Security among Infants and Children.” University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series, DP2012-11. University of Kentucky Center for Poverty, October 2012. http://www.ukcpr.org/Publications/DP2012-11.pdf. 

Ratcliffe, Caroline, Signe-Mary McKernan, and Sisi Zhang. “How Much Does the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity?” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93, no. 4 (July 2011): 1082–98. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aar026.

“The Nourishing Effect: Ending Hunger, Improving Health, Reducing Inequality (2016 Hunger Report).” Washington, D.C.: Bread for the World Institute, 2015. http://hungerreport.org/2016/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HR2016-Full-Report-Web.pdf.