Georgetown University LogoGeorgetown University Library LogoDigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • McCourt School of Public Policy
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    • View Item
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • McCourt School of Public Policy
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Do Parents Protect Their Children? The Effects of Food Insecurity on Child Mental Health

    Cover for Do Parents Protect Their Children? The Effects of Food Insecurity on Child Mental Health
    View/Open
    View/Open: Weisner_georgetown_0076M_14571.pdf (652kB) Bookview

    Creator
    Weisner, Kennedy
    Advisor
    Mudrazija, Stipica
    ORCID
    0000-0002-0493-3719
    Abstract
    Qualitative studies suggest that parents often believe that they can protect their children from the effects of food insecurity except in the most severe cases, but research consistently indicates that this may not be the case. Children who are food insecure are more likely to have negative outcomes, like nutritional deficiencies, behavior problems, and lower academic achievement, and interviews with children suggest that they, like their parents, may experience a great deal of stress and worry about their family’s ability to secure a sufficient amount of food. While several studies have indicated a relationship between food insecurity and poor mental health in adults, no wide scale quantitative studies have looked at this relationship among children. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this thesis attempts to fill this gap. Panel fixed effects and ordered logistic regression analysis reveal that food insecurity predicts higher levels of anxiety and depression among children between the ages of 4 and 12 and that this effect is heightened for children suffering from more severe forms of food insecurity. With nearly 20 percent of all children in the United States under the age of 18 experiencing some degree of food insecurity, these results underscore the importance of increasing access to nutritious food while also recognizing and addressing the impact that food insecurity has on the mental health of children.
    Description
    M.P.P.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1059623
    Date Published
    2020
    Subject
    children; food insecurity; mental health; PSID; Nutrition; Mental health; Public policy; Nutrition; Mental health; Public policy;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    54 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Cover for Health Systems Innovating to Address Food Insecurity:  Analysis of Program Implementation, Evaluation, and the Future

      Health Systems Innovating to Address Food Insecurity: Analysis of Program Implementation, Evaluation, and the Future 

      Harmsen, Mikaela (Georgetown University, 2020)
      While individuals have always been able to recognize the influence of social factors on their health, and ability to attain healthcare, the healthcare industry has only recently shifted their attentiveness to the impacts ...
    Related Items in Google Scholar

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility
     

     

    Browse

    All of DigitalGeorgetownCommunities & CollectionsCreatorsTitlesBy Creation DateThis CollectionCreatorsTitlesBy Creation Date

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility