Table 1.
Characteristics of 14,768 public school children (grades 4 through 8) in California participating in a survey on food insecurity
| Characteristics | Total sample (n = 14,768) |
Food securea (n = 6,508, 44%) |
Food insecure (n = 8,260, 56%) |
P valueb | Body satisfaction (n = 7,796, 53%) |
Body dissatisfactionc (n = 6,972, 47%) |
P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | ||||||
| Body mass indexd | |||||||
| Underweight | 451 (3) | 234 (4) | 217 (3) | <0.001 | 249 (3) | 202 (3) | <0.001 |
| Normal weight | 8,272 (56) | 3,771 (57) | 4,561 (55) | 5,091 (65) | 3,181 (46) | ||
| Overweight | 2,720 (18) | 1,176 (18) | 1,554 (19) | 1,316 (17) | 1,404 (20) | ||
| Obese | 3,325 (23) | 1,387 (21) | 1,938 (23) | 1,140 (15) | 2,185 (31) | ||
| Race/ethnicitye | |||||||
| Asian | 2,150 (14) | 994 (15) | 1,156 (14) | <0.001 | 967 (12) | 1,183 (17) | <0.001 |
| African American | 978 (7) | 489 (7) | 489 (6) | 609 (8) | 369 (5) | ||
| Latino | 8,902 (60) | 3,578 (55) | 5,324 (64) | 4,685 (60) | 4,217 (61) | ||
| Other | 390 (3) | 164 (3) | 226 (3) | 194 (3) | 196 (3) | ||
| White | 2,348 (16) | 1,283 (20) | 1,065 (13) | 1,341 (17) | 1,007 (14) | ||
| Sex | |||||||
| Female | 7,229 (49) | 3,323 (51) | 3,906 (47) | <0.001 | 3,689 (47) | 3,540 (51) | <0.001 |
| Male | 7,539 (51) | 3,185 (49) | 4,354 (53) | 4,107 (53) | 3,432 (49) | ||
| Free/reduced priced meal eligibilityf | |||||||
| Eligible | 10,339 (70) | 4,061 (62) | 6,278 (76) | <0.001 | 5,319 (68) | 5,020 (72) | <0.001 |
| Not eligible | 4,429 (30) | 2,447 (38) | 1,982 (24) | 2,477 (32) | 1,952 (28) | ||
| median±SDg | median±SD | ||||||
| Age, y | 10.2±1.3 | 10.5±1.3 | 10.1±1.2 | <0.001 | 10.1±1.2 | 10.4±1.3 | <0.001 |
| n (%) | |||||||
| Body satisfactionc | |||||||
| Satisfaction | 7,796 (53) | 3,749 (58) | 4,047 (49) | ||||
| Dissatisfaction | 6,972 (47) | 2,759 (42) | 4,213 (51) | <0.001 | |||
Child food insecurity was measured using three of the five items on child awareness from the Child Food Security Assessment. Children who reported experiencing different aspects of food insecurity over the past year “1 or 2 times” or “many times” were considered food insecure; children who reported “never” experiencing aspects of food insecurity were considered food secure.
P values were calculated using the χ2 tests for categorical variables and t test for the continuous variable for each category.
Body satisfaction/dissatisfaction was measured using a modified form of the Body Shape Satisfaction Scale. Five items assessed satisfaction with height, weight, body shape, body build, and health using a Likert scale ranging from “very unhappy” (1) to “very happy” (5). Children who averaged a score of 4 or higher on all five items were considered to have body satisfaction, and all others were considered to have body dissatisfaction.
Measured height and weight were converted to body mass index (BMI)–for-age-and-sex percentiles, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Underweight=BMI <5th percentile; normal=BMI ≥5th percentile and <85th percentile; overweight=BMI ≥85th percentile and <95th percentile; and obese=BMI ≥95th percentile.
Race/ethnicity data were provided by schools, and categories included Asian, African American, Latino, other, and white. The “other” group included students who identified as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, more than one race, not one of the major races otherwise included, or those who declined to state race/ethnicity.
Imputed free/reduced priced meal (FRPM) eligibility was used for 5,076 children from schools that did not provide FRPM data.
SD=standard deviation.