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Teenagers living in food insecure households (1 in 4 Latino children) are twice as likely than their peers to have emotional problems
, a new study reveals.
“These findings add to our growing understanding of food insecurity and its implications, and demonstrate that food insecurity is an independent risk factor for mental health problems among adolescents,” said lead author Dr. Elizabeth Poole-Di Salvo of Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York.
For the study, researchers used data from kids ages 12-16, and interviewed, in most cases, the teen’s mother who answered several questions such as economic difficulties in meeting food needs over the last 12 months and their child’s emotional symptoms.
Researchers found that nearly 29% of teens with food insecurity had mental health problems compared to 9% of other kids.
“While we cannot infer causality from this study, we suspect that exposure to food insecurity during adolescence, a period of rapid brain growth and development, may lead to suboptimal nutrition as well as increased psychological stress for the family and adolescent, and may adversely impact adolescent mental health,” Poole-Di Salvo said.
By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
