Children With Chronic Conditions More Likely to Have Food Insecurity

FRIDAY, Oct. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Children with chronic conditions are more likely to have food insecurity, according to a study published online Sept. 26 in JAMA Network Open.

Nina E. Hill, M.D., from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and colleagues compared the prevalence of food insecurity in children with and without any of seven chronic conditions in a cross-sectional study involving children ages 2 to 17 years in the 2019 to 2023 National Health Interview Survey.

The analyses included a weighted sample of 63,163,342 children (51.1 percent female; mean age, 9.6 years). The researchers found that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma were the most common chronic conditions (8.6 and 7.0 percent, respectively). Among children with and without chronic conditions, the weighted prevalence of food insecurity was 14.8 and 9.0 percent, respectively, across the study period. After controlling for family and child characteristics, this difference was attenuated but persisted (average marginal effect, 2.6 percentage points). The prevalence of food insecurity among children with and without chronic conditions decreased to 9.7 and 6.6 percent, respectively, in 2021, followed by an increase to 15.9 and 11.1 percent, respectively, by 2023.

“Our findings highlight how critical it is to protect and strengthen national policies to address food insecurity in children,” Hill said in a statement. “Now more than ever, our patients need access to effective nutrition support programs.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text

Editorial