Associations Between Food Insecurity and Child BMI: Cross-Sectional Versus Longitudinal Mediational Analysis of Maternal Weight-Related Parenting Practices and Concerns.

Objective: To test whether parent restriction, pressure to eat, and maternal concern for child weight mediated the positive association between food insecurity and child body mass index (BMI) in cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.

Methods: Data were from mother-child pairs (n = 202 at baseline). Children were M = 10.1 y (range 8-12) at baseline, 56% Hispanic, and 49% female; mothers were M = 41.2 y, and 58% had a college education or higher. Mediation models with maximum likelihood multiple imputation were conducted in MPlus, controlling for child age, child gender, and baseline scores on mediator and outcome variables (in longitudinal models).

Results: Greater maternal concern for child weight mediated the association between greater food insecurity and higher child BMI in the cross-sectional model (indirect effect = 0.115, p < .010) but not the longitudinal model (indirect effect = < .001, p =.960). No evidence of mediation was found for pressure to eat or restriction in cross-sectional or longitudinal models. In cross-sectional models, food insecurity was associated with higher child BMI (B_{restriction model} = 0.20; B_{pressure model} = 0.24; B_{concern model} = 0.90, ps <.01); and greater concern with child weight (B = 0.19, p < .01, which was a precondition for mediation).

Conclusions: Current findings suggest that food insecurity is associated with higher subsequent maternal concern for child weight and in turn higher child BMI (cross-sectionally). However, there was no support for feeding practices or concern as longitudinal mediators of food insecurity and child BMI change.