Application of Noninferiority Tests to Examine the Food Insecurity–Obesity Relationship in Children. Issue 2 (3rd April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Swindle, Taren; Fitzgerald, Shalese; McKelvey, Lorraine M.; Whiteside-Mansell, Leanne
• Is Part Of: Journal of hunger & environmental nutrition. Volume 13:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 228
• Page End: 239
• Publication Date: 2018-04-03
• Subjects: Obesity -- food insecurity -- children; Nutrition -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Hunger -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Food supply -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1080/19320248.2017.1337537
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1932-0248

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study applies noninferiority testing to assess the relationship between child weight and food security status in a sample of 808 children between 3 and 5 years old who were attending an urban, state-funded preschool program. Most families were African American (72.3%). Analyses were conducted using noninferiority testing to evaluate the overweight–food security association. Odds of being overweight in the food insecure (FI) group were 0.643 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.525 to 0.788) and odds from the food secure (FS) group were 0.570 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.127, 95% CI, 0.464 to 0.697, p = 0.004). These findings held across subgroups of gender, race, and family conflict. Children whose parents indicated education beyond high school showed a reversal with FI odds of overweight less than FS odds (OR = 0.663). As illustrated in this study, noninferiority testing provides an alternative analytic approach to examining the association between FI and weight in children.