Project 3: Isolating food insecurity to understand childhood health outcomes and biological mechanisms of risk

项目摘要/摘要 在美国，每七个有孩子的家庭中就有一个受到粮食不安全的影响，而且不成比例 影响那些以妇女和少数族裔为首的人。食物不安全与儿童肥胖、哮喘、 焦虑、抑郁和行为问题，从而造成健康差距。边吃边吃 缺乏安全感可能通过影响饮食而导致健康状况不佳，这样的理解可能过于简单化 掩盖了压力的影响--那些儿童独有的影响，例如不良的童年经历，包括 产妇抑郁，以及通常与贫困经历有关的抑郁。要通知 粮食不安全最终影响儿童身心健康的机制，这 研究将区分粮食不安全的影响和贫困的影响，并检查对饮食的影响， 生物标记物、体重增加、情绪和行为，同时考虑其他童年逆境。具体来说， 通过独特的夏季膳食供应干预，拟议的项目将隔离 来自普罗维登斯市低收入家庭的8-12岁儿童的粮食不安全问题。与以下公司合作 大普罗维登斯基督教青年会和普罗维登斯健康社区办公室，我们将招募100名 儿童在两个夏天。在完成基线评估后，参与者将被随机分配到 粮食不安全或粮食安全群体。被随机分配到食物不安全组的儿童将经历 夏季粮食不安全的自然发生，并收到关于社区资源的每周时事通讯，即 预计不会影响粮食不安全。那些被随机分配到食品安全组的人将保持食品安全 在夏季，每周收到五份符合营养要求的早餐和午餐 这一年龄段的需求。主要终点包括饮食质量、代谢综合征的生物标志物、 炎症、压力、BMI z评分，以及儿童行为、焦虑和抑郁的测量 症状。我们也会探讨照顾者的情绪和压力对食物的健康影响。 不安全感。最终，这项研究的发现将阐明粮食不安全影响的机制。 儿童健康结果，并告知如何更有效地防止粮食不安全。他们还将提供 R01申请的基础和埃文斯博士(PI)的进一步培训，以建立独立研究 职业生涯侧重于了解饮食在预防弱势青年健康差距方面的作用。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Food insecurity affects one in seven households with children in the United States and disproportionately impacts those headed by women and minorities. Food insecurity is associated with childhood obesity, asthma, anxiety and depression and behavioral problems, and thus contributes to health disparities. While food insecurity likely contributes to poor health through its effect on diet, such a simplistic understanding likely obscures the effects of stress – those unique to childhood, such as Adverse Childhood Experiences including maternal depression, as well as those generally associated with the experience of poverty. To inform the mechanisms by which food insecurity ultimately affects physical and mental health outcomes in children, this study will disentangle the effects of food insecurity from those of poverty and examine effects on diet, biomarkers, weight gain, mood and behavior while considering other childhood adversities. Specifically, through a unique summertime meal provision intervention, the proposed project will isolate the experience of food insecurity in children, ages 8-12 years, from low-income households in Providence, RI. In partnership with the YMCA of Greater Providence and the Healthy Communities Office in Providence, we will recruit 100 children over two summers. After completing a baseline assessment, participants will be randomized to the Food Insecure or Food Secure groups. Children randomized to the Food Insecure group will experience the natural onset of summertime food insecurity and receive a weekly newsletter on community resources that is not expected to affect food insecurity. Those randomized to the Food Secure group will remain food secure over the summer through receipt of weekly shipments of five breakfast and lunch meals that meet the nutrition needs of this age group. Primary endpoints include diet quality, biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome, inflammation, and stress, BMI z-scores, and child measures of behavior and anxiety and depression symptoms. We will also explore the impact of caregiver mood and stress on the health effects of food insecurity. Ultimately, findings from this research will clarify the mechanisms by which food insecurity affects child health outcomes and inform how to more effectively prevent food insecurity. They will also provide the foundation for an R01 application and further training for Dr. Evans (PI) to establish an independent research career focused on understanding the role of diet in the prevention of health disparities in disadvantaged youth.