Citation

Jackson DB, Johnson KR, Vaughn MG, Hinton ME. Soc. Sci. Med. 2018; 221: 58-67.

Affiliation

The University of Texas at San Antonio, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.013

PMID

30557777

Abstract

RATIONALE: Food insecurity is a significant public health concern, with implications for community and individual health and well-being. Although a growing body of literature points to the role of neighborhoods in household food insecurity, studies using nationally representative samples to explore interactions between neighborhood risks - including violence and danger - are lacking.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examines whether interactions between physical disorder, low social capital, and violence/danger in the neighborhood have significant implications for the risk of household food insufficiency using a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. children and their families.

METHOD: Data are from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health, a survey of a cross-sectional weighted probability sample of U.S. children from 0 to 17 years of age. Multinomial logistic regression techniques were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS: Neighborhood risk factors interacted to predict household food insufficiency, with the confluence of low social capital and violence/danger yielding the strongest effects.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that food hardship should be addressed within the context of neighborhood revitalization. The risk of food insufficiency among children and families in especially high-risk ecological contexts might be ameliorated with the provision of informal and formal sources of nutrition assistance and support.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Hunger; Neighborhoods; Nutrition; Physical disorder; Social capital; Violence