Prevalence of Food Insecurity Between Pediatric Critical Care and Hospital Ward Setting

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care medicine
• Public health nutrition
• Health disparities research

Background:

• Food insecurity (FI) is a significant social determinant of health impacting pediatric populations.
• Understanding FI prevalence in different hospital settings is crucial for targeted interventions.
• Previous research has not extensively compared FI rates between pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and general hospital medicine (HM) floors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of food insecurity among pediatric patients admitted to the PICU.
• To compare the prevalence of FI between PICU and HM floor admissions.
• To identify clinical and demographic factors associated with FI in pediatric hospital admissions.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of pediatric patients (0-18 years) admitted for ≥24 hours in 2023.
• Utilized the Hunger Vital Sign tool to screen for food insecurity.
• Compared FI prevalence using chi-square testing and logistic regression, analyzing demographic and clinical variables.

Main Results:

• Of 2820 eligible patients, FI prevalence was higher in the PICU (9%) compared to the HM floor (6.5%).
• Black and Hispanic pediatric patients exhibited significantly higher odds of food insecurity compared to White patients.
• Admission location, age, gender, and length of stay were not independently associated with FI.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to compare FI prevalence between PICU and HM patients and the largest to date on PICU FI.
• FI is more prevalent in PICU admissions, disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic children.
• Findings emphasize the necessity of implementing screening and intervention strategies for food insecurity within the PICU environment.