Food Insecurity and Family Dynamics: A Systematic Review.

Background: Undernutrition is related to numerous childhood outcomes. However, little research has investigated the relationship between food insecurity and family dynamics. This systematic review seeks to validate the evidence for a relationship between these 2 factors.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted in Embase, PubMed, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria include peer-reviewed research articles published during or after 1996 in English, using standardized measures of family function and food insecurity. Exclusion criteria include measurement of parent or child characteristics without assessing household or family characteristics or demographics. Two reviewers independently voted using Covidence, and Alpha agreement was determined at each phase.

Results: A total of 15 studies were included for data extraction after the initial search being completed in April 2022. All included studies were found to be appropriate in numerous categories for quality assessment. Primary findings from these studies show a potential relationship exists between food insecurity and family dynamics.

Discussion: The findings in this review suggest that effects of food insecurity expand to various aspects of healthy family functioning. Unhealthy family dynamics in childhood can also expose children to trauma and lead to increased physical and mental health disorders in the future.