ReviewAcademic pediatrics
Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children.
Review in Academic pediatrics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food Insecurity Among Post-Secondary Students in High Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current nutrition reports · 2025Pooled it
- Household food insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Focusing attention on the important association between food insecurity and psychological distress: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Young Women's Perspectives on Alcohol Environments in Urban Informal Settlements in Kampala, Uganda: An Exploratory Photovoice Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The Impacts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Review
- Food Insecurity and Mental Health Among High School Students: Evidence From National and Virginia Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Data.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Changes in health-related social needs and in depression and anxiety symptoms in Massachusetts low-income, community health center patients: an observational cohort study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- From pantry to physiology: A narrative review linking food insecurity to biological dysfunction.Dialogues in health · 2026Review
- Underrated risk: Food insecurity and distress of Filipino Americans with hypertension in a primary care setting.Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners · 2026Article
- The Impact of Climate Change on Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health.Pediatric clinics of North America · 2026Review
- Changes in Food Security and Diet Quality After the 2021 SNAP Benefit Increase in Massachusetts, USA.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Meeting Youth Needs: The Importance of Incorporating Adolescent and Young Adult Perspectives in Food Insecurity Screening and Interventions.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2026Article
- Dietary behaviors, lifestyle habits, food insecurity risk and depressive symptoms among New York City adolescents: a cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Household Food Insecurity across Childhood and Weight Change Attempts in Early Adolescence: Findings from a Nationally Representative Cohort of United States Youth.Current developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- Food Insecurity and the Nexus of Co-Occurring Parental Distress and Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2026Article
- MISAPSY: childhood maltreatment, food insecurity, psychological distress and professional integration among socioeconomically disadvantaged young adults - a mixed-methods study protocol.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Feeding Minds, Building Societies: The Transformative Power of Universal School Meals.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Impact of financial deprivation in first-episode psychosis: a prospective 4-year follow-up study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Article
- The social ecology of adolescent mental health in humanitarian settings: A qualitative study.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFood insecurity affects 13.7 million US households and is linked to poor mental health. Families shield children from food insecurity by sacrificing their nutritional needs, suggesting parents and children experience food insecurity differentially.
objectiveTo identify the associations of food insecurity and mental health outcomes in parents and children DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and PsycInfo STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included original research published in English from January 1990 to June 2020 that examined associations between food insecurity and mental health in children or parents/guardians in the United States. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS
methodsTwo reviewers screened studies for inclusion. Data extraction was completed by one reviewer and checked by a second. Bias and confounding were assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality RTI Item Bank. Studies were synthesized qualitatively, grouped by mental health outcome, and patterns were assessed. Meta-analyses were not performed due to high variability between studies.
resultsWe included 108 studies, assessing 250,553 parents and 203,822 children in total. Most studies showed a significant association between food insecurity and parental depression, anxiety, and stress, and between food insecurity and child depression, externalizing/internalizing behaviors, and hyperactivity. LIMITATIONS: Most studies were cross-sectional and many were medium- or high-risk for bias or confounding. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY
findingsFood insecurity is significantly associated with various mental health outcomes in both parents and children. The rising prevalence of food insecurity and mental health problems make it imperative that effective public health and policy interventions address both problems.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.