Food Insecurity and Children’s Health: An Urgent Need to Address

‘Food insecurity is directly associated with children’s poor health outcomes.’

Food insecurity (FI) comprises a deficiency of sufficient healthy, affordable, and cultural food which leads to serious public health-related contemporary social issues locally and globally including in Canada. The cause of FI is closely embedded in public policy intervention and financial constraints due to poverty which leads to socioeconomic vulnerabilities. ¹ Statistical data shows that 40% of children over 12% of households experience FI in Canada. ¹ The current rate of child FI is remarkably high (14.6%) compared to the prevalence of 1.2% in 1994 and 1.6 in 1996. ² Canadian income survey stated that 1.4 million children encountered FI in 2021. ³ At the household level, 15.6% of households with children under 18 years of age were food insecure compared to 10.4% of households without children in Canada. ⁴ Child FI in Canada varies geographically—Alberta (18.6%), Quebec (11.1%), Nunavut (78.7%), Yukon (18.3%), and Northwest Territories (30%).^3,5 FI has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow daily. ⁶ Based on these statistical data, FI is a crucial issue related to children’s public health and it affects children’s nutrition, health, and well-being across their lifespans (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Household food insecurity in 2020-2021 in Canada.

Children are the population subgroup in the critical phase of growth and development. They need an adequate amount of nutritious and balanced diet to maintain and sustain their healthy growth and development. ⁷ The rising rate of FI among children in Canada, coupled with its link with various adverse physiological and psychological health outcomes, further reinforces the need to pay attention to its determinants.

The research evidence strongly suggests that FI impacts children’s health negatively—worsening general health, increasing health service utilization, reducing academic performance, poorer social outcomes, and anxiety and depression. ⁸ Similarly, households with FI are strongly connected to children’s mental health. Individuals living in food-insecure households have a greater risk of poor mental health, which leads to growth in the severity of FI. The presence of FI and mental health is highly detrimental. FI makes it hard to manage chronic mental health problems, while mental illness can impede people’s ability to become food secure; those are interconnected. The children who belonged to food-insecure households experience mental health issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity. Also, they manifest a significant risk of smoking initiation, substance abuse, behavioral disorder, aggression, and suicidal ideation when they become adolescents. ⁹

FI can be classified into three categories, as shown in the diagram above:

• Marginal FI: In this condition, the individuals feel worried about running out of food and/or limited food choices due to inadequate financial sources to purchase food.

• Moderate FI: In this situation, the individuals compromise on the quantity and quality of food as they do not grant money to purchase the food to fulfill their needs.

• Severe FI: In this state, the individuals miss meals, reduce food intake, or, in extreme cases, have no food.

Based on the above discussion and statistical evidence, FI is directly associated with children’s poor health outcomes which are in a rising trend. Early identification of risks and addressing the FI issue among children is crucial to safeguard their health and well-being. To combat this issue, the government should employ a comprehensive social policy (eg, an income support program or increase in social security funding) to support vulnerable children immediately and start long-term sustainable programs to eliminate this catastrophe.