Does Household Food Insecurity Affect Cognitive and Social Development of Kindergartners?
Year: 2002 Research Center: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison Investigator: Harrison, Gail G., and Ame Stormer Institution: University of California Project Contact: Gail G. Harrison, Professor and Chair UCLA School of Public Health Department of Community Health Sciences 14-171 Warren Hall 900 Veteran Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095 Phone: 310-825-3738 gailh@ucla.edu Summary: This study explored the relationships between household food insecurity and the cognitive performance and social behavior in U.S. children entering kindergarten. Earlier studies have found that hunger is associated with poor school performance, such as more school absences, tardiness, and increased probability of repeating grades. There is also some evidence of compromised social and emotional functioning among adolescents in food-insecure households. The authors focused on children entering kindergarten in order to examine cumulative childhood development prior to schooling. In addi
