Improvement in Food Insecurity Correlated with Improved Cardiometabolic Measures in Latinx Youth

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Md.), 2023-11, Vol.31, p.17-17
• Main Authors: Haushalter, Keally, Hudson, Erin, Morrison, Jennifer, Nikah, Katharine, Landry, Matthew, Davis, Jaimie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Food security
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X

Background: Food insecurity (FI) in children is linked with adverse health outcomes, particularly among Latinx youth. Study aims were twofold: (a) to assess the effect of the intervention on FI and (b) to evaluate if changes in FI are associated with changes in children's adiposity and cardiometabolic measures. Methods: The TX Sprouts randomized controlled trial tested the effects of a school-based gardening, nutrition, and cooking intervention in 16 elementary schools serving primarily low-income Hispanic families. Schools were randomly assigned to TX Sprouts (n = 8) or delayed intervention (control; n = 8). The following were collected at baseline and eight-months: household and child-reported FI via surveys, adiposity (BMI parameters and percent body fat) via anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance, and cardiometabolic measures (lipid panel, HbA1c and glucose) via fasting blood sample. Generalized weighted linear mixed models examined intervention effects on FI, accounting for clustering by school. Multivariable regressions assessed the relationship between changes in FI with changes in adiposity and cardiometabolic measures, adjusting for intervention, age, sex, ethnicity/ race, BMI-z score, free/reduced lunch eligibility and the respective baseline measure. Results: The analytic sample included 417 children with complete data. Change in FI was grouped as: secure to secure (n = 285), insecure to insecure (n = 49), secure to insecure (n = 61) and insecure to secure (n = 22). There was no intervention effect on change in FI. Independent of the intervention, children who became food secure had significant increases in HDL-cholesterol (ß = 1.62, p = 0.047) and significant decreases in triglycerides (ß = 14.47, p = 0.035) compared to those who stayed food insecure. Change in FI was not related to changes in adiposity or other cardiometabolic markers. Conclusions: Improvements in food security were associated with favorable changes in cardiometabolic markers, independent of intervention.