Childhood Food Involvement: Protection Against Food Insecurity in Young Adulthood

Food insecurity during young adulthood affects physical health, mental health, and academic performance. However, little is known about parental and behavioral factors during childhood that may contribute to risk of food insecurity during young adulthood.

Data were obtained from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Child Development Supplement (1997-2017). In 2018-2019, a balanced panel was constructed of individuals who were aged 0-12 years in 1997 (n=1,049) and were living independently as of 2015. Simple and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the effect of parental nutritional knowledge, childhood food preparation, and food shopping involvement on food insecurity in 2015-2017, adjusting for individual- and family-level factors.

Children whose parents had medium (OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.17, 0.93) or high (OR=0.38, 95% CI=0.19, 0.76) nutritional knowledge, compared with low nutritional knowledge, had lower odds of being food insecure when they reached young adulthood. In fully adjusted models, high levels of time spent preparing food during childhood were associated with lower odds of food insecurity in young adulthood (OR=0.47, 95% CI=0.26, 0.84) compared with individuals who spent no time in food preparation. Time spent food shopping during childhood did not predict food insecurity in young adulthood.

Spending time in food preparation during childhood and high parental nutritional knowledge each have a protective effect against food insecurity during young adulthood. Greater investment in teaching cooking skills during childhood may be beneficial, particularly for individuals at high risk for food insecurity.