Sociodemographic Characteristics Associated With Food-Insecure Households With Preschool and School Children: Findings From the ObesInCrisis Study.

Objective: Following the last global economic crisis, Europe imposed austerity policies with significant influence on the households' food security. This study aimed to examine the characteristics of food-insecure households with children with normal body weight and overweight/obesity with other sociodemographic and family characteristics, following the last world financial crisis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 4737 children living in Portugal. Household food insecurity was assessed using the Household Food Insecurity Scale. Children's nutritional status and sociodemographic indicators were measured.

Results: Our results showed that 13.2% of children were living in food-insecure households, from which 25.5% were overweight/obesity. Food-insecure households were more likely to include children at school age (OR = 1.195, 95% CI: 1.008-1.416), females (OR = 1.245, 95% CI: 1.051-1.476) and living in the district of Lisbon (OR = 1.369, 95% CI: 1.130-1.659), compared to those from food-secure households. HFI was associated with having parents under 40 years old (fathers: OR = 1.321, 95% CI: 1.104-1.581 and mothers: OR = 1.362, 95% CI: 1.141-1.627), fathers with low and medium levels of education (OR = 5.967, 95% CI: 4.584-7.767 and OR = 2.666, 95% CI: 2.050-3.467, respectively), as well as mothers' low and medium education (OR = 5.083, 95% CI: 3.982-6.488 and OR = 3.202, 95% CI: 2.599-3.945, respectively), and not working fathers (OR = 3.160, 95% CI: 2.415-4.317) or mothers (OR = 2.706, 95% CI: 2.197-3.332). After adjustments, only the association with the paternal age lost its statistical significance. No other significant associations were observed in other household sociodemographic components.

Conclusion: It should be recognized the need for socioeconomic interventions to empower women and close the gender gap between female- and male-headed households.