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Relationship between hunger and psychosocial functioning in low-income American children

J M Murphy1, C A Wehler, M E Pagano

  • 1Child Psychiatry Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02144, USA.

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|February 25, 1998
PubMed

Insights

Childhood hunger, defined as food insufficiency, is linked to impaired psychosocial and academic functioning in low-income children. The Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) measure is reliable for assessing this critical issue.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Public Health Nutrition
  • Socioeconomic Determinants of Health

Background:

  • Childhood hunger affects 8% of US children annually, operationalized as parent-reported food insufficiency.
  • Understanding the impact of food insufficiency on children's psychosocial functioning is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between food insufficiency and psychosocial functioning in low-income school-age children.
  • To assess the interinformant (parent vs. child) and time-to-time reliability of the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) measure.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) involving 204 children and their parents.
  • Employed parent, teacher, and clinician reports to assess psychosocial functioning; 96 participants were reinterviewed after 4 months.

Main Results:

  • Children experiencing hunger or at risk were twice as likely to have impaired functioning based on parent and child reports.
  • Teachers reported increased hyperactivity, absenteeism, and tardiness in hungry/at-risk children.
  • Parent and child hunger reports were correlated, and the CCHIP measure demonstrated acceptable reliability.

Conclusions:

  • Intermittent food insufficiency and hunger, as measured by CCHIP, are associated with poorer behavioral and academic outcomes in low-income children.
  • The CCHIP measure is a valid and reliable tool for assessing childhood hunger.
Abstract

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