Marginal, Low, and Very-Low Food Security among Children Are Associated with Intake of Select Dietary Factors during Summer.

Background: School meals are associated with improved food security status and dietary intake. Children receiving free and reduced-price school meals lose access to these meals during the summer. The association between food security status and dietary intake in these children during summer is unclear.

Objective: To examine the association between food security status (high, marginal, low, and very-low food security) among children and intake of select dietary factors during summer in children certified for free and reduced-price school meals by age group (3 to 4 years, 5 to 8 years, 9 to 12 years, and 13 to 17 years).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Participants/setting: Secondary data from 11,873 children aged 3 to 17 years in the control group of the US Department of Agriculture Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children Demonstration Project.

Main Outcome Measures: Consumption of total fruits and vegetables; fruits and vegetables, excluding fried potatoes; whole grains; added sugars; added sugars, excluding cereals; added sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages; and dairy products assessed using questions from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Multifactor Diet Screener.

Statistical Analysis: Multiple linear regression.

Results: For the majority of age groups, marginal food security, low food security, and very-low food security were associated with lower fruit and vegetable consumption and low food security and very-low food security were associated with lower dairy consumption, with children from households with very-low food security having the lowest consumption. Children from households with very-low food security consumed 0.73 (95% CI -0.93 to -0.53) to 0.99 (95% CI -1.59 to -0.39) cup equivalents less per day of fruits and vegetables and 0.49 (95% CI -0.65 to -0.34) to 0.68 (95% CI -1.07 to -0.29) cup equivalents less per day of dairy compared with children from households experiencing high food security.

Conclusions: Lower food security was associated with reduced consumption of fruits and vegetables and dairy products during summer in children from low-income households.