Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Prevalence of VLFS in Children among Children of Foreign-Born Mothers

contract number AG-3198-B-10-0028. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the UKCPR or any agency of the Federal Government. Abstract: This research examined VLFS in children among households with foreign-born (FB) mothers compared to US-born mothers through three research questions: Is mother's foreign-born status (FBS) associated with VLFS in children, and can association be explained by mothers' socio-demographic characteristics? Are FB mothers more or less likely to receive nutrition or non-nutrition assistance benefits, or work for pay than US-born mothers? Do mothers' FBS, or protective/risk factors associated with FBS, modify associations of negative economic shocks and hardships with VLFS in children? Data are on approximately 44,000 mother-child (ages<48 Mos.) dyads collected from household surveys administered under a "sentinel surveillance" system over 1998-2012 at teaching hospitals and clinics in seven US cities. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models tested study hypotheses. Mothers' FBS is strongly positively associated with VLFS in children after controlling for available risk and protective factors. FB mothers are less likely to receive SNAP and non-nutrition assistance (TANF, LIHEAP or housing subsidies), but more likely to receive WIC and to be employed than US-born mothers. FB mothers are no more likely to report negative reasons for not receiving SNAP or TANF, or losing jobs or decreasing work hours than US-born, and reported "immigration concerns" rarely. No need/chose not to participate are most frequently reported reasons for not receiving SNAP and TANF; pregnancy/maternity leave and "market conditions" for lost jobs and decreased work hours. Economic shocks and hardships are positively associated with VLFS in children, but Mothers' FBS does not interact with shocks and hardships to modify those associations. Executive Summary Very low food security (VLFS) in children, the most severe level of food insecurity measured by the US Food Security Survey Module, is a concern because even less severe levels of food insecurity have been associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes in children. i, ii VLFS in children is also referred to as "child hunger" and is generally what is meant when decision-makers express their desire or intention to reduce or eliminate child hunger, as in Section 141 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Yet partly because the condition of VLFS in children is relatively rare (approximately 1.1% in the national population in 2011) iii , little …