TOPLINE:

US adolescents from food-insecure households had a higher likelihood of obesity than those from food-secure households.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis utilizing data from the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health to assess the link between household food insecurity and obesity in US adolescents.
• A screener survey identified eligible households, randomly selecting one child per household for a detailed survey; the survey included 14,771 adolescents aged 10-17 years.
• The survey assessed BMI through parent-reported height and weight, with obesity being defined as a BMI ≥ 95th percentile for age and sex.
• Food security was assessed using a four-category survey question about the ability of the household to afford food over the past year; responses indicating “sometimes not enough to eat” were considered low food sufficiency, whereas “often not enough to eat” was considered very low food sufficiency.
• Food insecurity included limited access to food and insufficient nutritional quality, per US Department of Agriculture guidelines.

TAKEAWAY:

• Nearly 4% of adolescents were categorized as those having low or very low food sufficiency, and 13.6% of adolescents were classified as those having obesity.
• Food-insecure households and adolescents with obesity were more likely to be Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, or mixed race.
• Households that experienced food insecurity and had adolescents with obesity were more likely to have a parent or caregiver with lower educational attainment.
• Adolescents from food-insecure households had higher odds of obesity than those from food-secure households, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.77 (95% CI, 1.56-2.01), 1.98 (95% CI, 1.52-2.56), and 3.08 (95% CI, 1.81-5.25) for increasing insecurity levels in a dose-response fashion.

IN PRACTICE:

“Food insecurity and other social determinants of health often co-occur and can impact the health of adolescents throughout life. This warrants the use of multidisciplinary healthcare teams to best equip parents and adolescents with resources for healthier lifestyles and help navigate the use of food assistance programs and other social services,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Daniela Rosa Falcone, MPH, of the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. It was published online on September 15, 2025, in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

LIMITATIONS:

The cross-sectional design of this study limited the ability to establish causality between food insecurity and obesity. Data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have altered food insecurity levels. BMI data were limited to adolescents aged 10-17 years, excluding younger children and those aged 18-19 years.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any external support. No relevant conflicts of interest were disclosed by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.