183 - Associations of Neighborhood Safety, Social Cohesion, and Social Control with Food Insecurity among Families with Preschool-Aged Children

Poster Number: 183
Publication Number: 183.413

Gabrielle DiFiore, Children's Hospital of Philadephia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Chloe Hannan, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Alexander fiks, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Merion, PA, United States; Senbagam Virudachalam, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Karen Glanz, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Stephanie Mayne, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Background: Household food insecurity is associated with child behavioral and developmental health problems, along with long-term social, educational, and financial difficulties. A supportive neighborhood social environment may mitigate the risk of food insecurity. In contrast, adverse neighborhood social conditions, like crime, may increase the likelihood of food insecurity.

Objective: Examine associations between neighborhood social factors and food insecurity among families with young children.

Design/Methods: We surveyed 300 English-speaking mothers of Medicaid-enrolled 2-4-year-old children living in Philadelphia about neighborhood characteristics and food insecurity. Mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood safety, social cohesion, and informal social control (willingness to intervene when problems occur ) were assessed using validated scales. Food security status was measured using a two-item screener recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Respondents’ addresses were geocoded and linked with police-recorded crime rates within census tracts. We used modified Poisson regression with robust variance estimates to examine associations of perceived neighborhood safety, social cohesion, social control, and crime with food insecurity prevalence, adjusted for demographics, household socioeconomic status, and neighborhood characteristics.

Results: Each 1-point increase in perceived neighborhood safety and social cohesion were associated with a 19% and 17% lower prevalence of food insecurity, respectively (Table; Prevalence Rate (PR): 0.81, 95% CI: 0.71, 0.92; PR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.69, 1.00), adjusted for all covariates. Police-recorded violent crime rates were associated with higher food insecurity prevalence, with each increase of 10 police-recorded violent crimes per 1000 census tract residents associated with a 2% increased food insecurity prevalence (PR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.04). Informal social control was not associated with food insecurity (PR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.05).Conclusion(s): Higher perceived neighborhood safety and social cohesion were associated with lower food insecurity prevalence, whereas higher police-recorded violent crime rates were associated with increased food security prevalence. Future research on food access for low-income households should examine features of neighborhood social environments that may be associated with food insecurity.
Table. Associations of Neighborhood Social Environment with Household Food Insecurity