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 food-insecure households where children were not shielded.
Results
About one in six (15.3%) households with children was food insecure. One third of these (6.3%) included children who were shielded from experiencing food insecurity. Shielded youth did not differ significantly from food-secure youth in three of the five outcomes examined. However, unshielded youth, compared to food-secure youth, showed increased risks of every health outcome we investigated. Adults in food-insecure households also reported worse mental health than food-secure adults but better mental health if children were shielded.
Conclusion
Shielding is associated with reduced risk of common psychiatric outcomes and poor mental health in youth and adults, possibly because it is associated with milder forms of food insecurity. The inability to protect children from having inadequate access to food may compound the psychological strain of food insecurity on mental health and well-being among adults.
Résumé
Objectif
Les adultes d’un ménage en insécurité alimentaire sacrifient souvent leurs propres besoins nutritionnels afin que les enfants soient nourris en priorité. Cette protection peut préserver les enfants de la malnutrition, mais ses liens avec la santé mentale et le bien-être n’ont pas été spécifiquement examinés. L’objectif de cette étude est d’explorer ces liens.
Méthode
Nous avons utilisé les données de trois cycles de l’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes (n = 28 871 jeunes, 74 416 adultes) dans le but d’identifier les ménages en insécurité alimentaire dans lesquels les enfants ne se trouvaient pas en insécurité alimentaire ( « protégés »). Afin de comparer la santé mentale et le bien-être des jeunes et adultes vivant au sein d’un ménage en insécurité alimentaire « protégé » par rapport aux individus vivant au sein d’un ménage en sécurité alimentaire et d’un ménage en insécurité alimentaire où les enfants n’étaient pas protégés de cette insécurité, nous avons utilisé la régression de Poisson.
Résultats
Environ un ménage avec des enfants sur six (15,3 %) était en insécurité alimentaire. Un tiers de ces enfants (6,3 %) étaient protégés de l’insécurité alimentaire. Les enfants « protégés » ne différaient pas significativement des enfants vivant au sein d’un ménage en sécurité alimentaire pour la plupart des résultats concernant la santé mentale. Les enfants « non protégés » ont montré des risques accrus pour chaque indicateur étudié (trouble de l’humeur, trouble de l’anxiété, santé mentale moyenne/ mauvaise, santé moyenne/ mauvaise, faible satisfaction de la vie). Les adultes vivant dans un ménage en insécurité alimentaire ont également déclaré une plus mauvaise santé mentale que les adultes vivant dans un ménage en sécurité alimentaire, mais une meilleure santé mentale lorsque les enfants du ménage étaient protégés de l’insécurité alimentaire.
Conclusion
La protection des enfants au sein d’un ménage en insécurité alimentaire est associé à une réduction du risque de problèmes psychiatriques communs et de mauvaise santé mentale chez les jeunes et les adultes, possiblement parce que les ménages dans lesquels les enfants sont protégés font face à des formes plus légères d’insécurité alimentaire. L’incapacité de protéger les enfants et l’accès inadéquat à la nourriture peut aggraver la pression psychologique de l’insécurité alimentaire sur la santé mentale et le bien-être des adultes.
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Public Use Microdata Files for the Canadian Community Health Survey are publicly available through the Data Liberation Initiative of Statistics Canada.
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Supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (PJT-162463, PJT-165971), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (435-2019-1083), and Canada Research Chairs Program.
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All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Literature review and data cleaning and analysis were performed by MO and FE. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MO. MADS assisted with data analysis and editing of the manuscript. All the authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ovenell, M., Azevedo Da Silva, M. & Elgar, F.J. Shielding children from food insecurity and its association with mental health and well-being in Canadian households. Can J Public Health 113, 250–259 (2022). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00597-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00597-2