Research Article

Food Insecurity Experiences Predict Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the USA

Table 2

Estimates from subject-specific models of the effects of very low or low food security experiences on the number of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed by children during previous 7 daysa, b, c. -Coefficients and P values.

Outcome Very low or low food security (0-1)BMI (kg/m2)Physical exercise (d/week)Television watching (min/d)

Fruit
  All56702.34 (0.005)0.017 (0.854)0.2107 (0.017)0.0018 (0.153)
  Boys27502.55 (0.038)0.211 (0.135)0.2696 (0.038)0.0035 (0.030)
  Girls29202.09 (0.040)–0.144 (0.185)0.1541 (0.141)–0.0004 (0.827)
Green salad
  All56700.64 (0.154)0.031 (0.449)0.1158 (0.012)–0.0003 (0.675)
  Boys27500.76 (0.172)0.053 (0.234)0.0864 (0.176)–0.0003 (0.710)
  Girls29200.67 (0.342)0.001 (0.989)0.1456 (0.031)–0.0002 (0.746)
Carrots
  All56700.65 (0.144)0.047 (0.334)0.1232 (0.009)–0.0005 (0.386)
  Boys27501.05 (0.115)0.191 (0.001)0.065 (0.269)–0.0006 (0.445)
  Girls29200.49 (0.397)–0.092 (0.184)0.1583 (0.034)–0.0006 (0.477)
Potatoes
  All5670 0.34 (0.500)–0.025 (0.514)–0.0003 (0.996)0.0013 (0.037)
  Boys27500.05 (0.955)0.003 (0.953)0.0783 (0.390)0.0013 (0.068)
  Girls29200.64 (0.165)–0.051 (0.292)–0.0779 (0.078)0.0012 (0.287)
Other vegetables
  All5670 0.26 (0.723)0.015 (0.798)0.1819 (0.010)–0004 (0.630)
  Boys27500.17 (0.884)0.069 (0.374)0.0842 (0.406)0.0012 (0.186)
  Girls29200.48 (0.586)–0.064 (0.444)0.2635 (0.007)–0.0021 (0.180)

Very low or low food security is defined as ≥3 affirmative response on the USDA Household Food Security Survey Module.
P values are adjusted for within-child correlation among repeated observations, and longitudinal ECLS-K sampling weights adjusted for oversampling and nonresponse.
Controlling for number of siblings, household size, a series of household income category indicator variables, a series of parental education level indicator variables, an indicator variable for spring 2007, and county-level characteristics measuring income per capita, annual unemployment rate, and Food Stamp Program recipients per capita.