Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Objective
Food insecurity is positively associated with asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease, yet directionality is unclear. The objective was to determine the association between exposure to food insecurity in early childhood and the odds of asthma later in childhood.Design
Data from four waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort, a prospective, dual-frame, multistage probability cluster sampling study of school-aged US children were entered in multivariate logistic regression models, adjusted for covariates. Exposures to food insecurity were based on parental responses to the validated USDA 18-item module at each wave.Setting
Public and private primary and secondary schools between 1998 and 2007.Participants
At its inception (1999), the ECLS-K had 20?578 kindergarteners; by the spring of eighth grade (2007), the cohort dropped to 9725 due to attrition. Children missing an exposure, outcome or confounding variable were excluded, final n=6731.Primary outcome measure
Child's diagnosis of asthma by a healthcare professional as reported by the parent.Results
Household food insecurity (vs food security) in the year before kindergarten and in second grade had a higher odds of asthma by 18% (95% CI 1.17 to 1.20) and 55% (95% CI 1.51 to 1.55). After removing asthmatics before third grade from the model, food insecurity in second grade was associated with higher odds of asthma at fifth or eighth grades (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.53 to 1.58), whereas food insecurity in the year before kindergarten had a lower odds at fifth or eighth grades.Conclusions
Food insecurity in the year before kindergarten and in second grade were associated with a higher odds of asthma in third grade. Food insecurity in second grade retained the signal for increased odds of asthma after third and through eighth grades. Additional research is needed to explore childhood windows of vulnerability to asthma.
SUBMITTER: Mangini LD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6278782 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
BMJ open 20190222 11
<h4>Objective</h4>Food insecurity is positively associated with asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease, yet directionality is unclear. The objective was to determine the association between exposure to food insecurity in early childhood and the odds of asthma later in childhood.<h4>Design</h4>Data from four waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort, a prospective, dual-frame, multistage probability cluster sampling study of school-aged US children we ...[more]