Food insecurity in households of children receiving care at a paediatric obesity management clinic in Montreal: Overall prevalence and changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVES: Food insecurity and paediatric obesity are two major public health issues in Canada that may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed food insecurity and its correlates among households of children receiving care at a paediatric obesity management clinic in Montreal. We also assessed whether the prevalence of food insecurity among households of children who received care during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from those who received care before it. METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of medical records of children (2 to 17 years) who received care at a paediatric obesity management clinic in Montreal (Maison de santé prévention – Approche 180 [MSP-180]). Children’s household food security status was assessed using Health Canada’s Household Food Security Survey Module. RESULTS: Among the 253 children included in the study, 102 (40.3%) lived in households with moderate (n=89; 35.2%) or severe food insecurity (n=13; 5.1%). Food insecurity was more prevalent in households of children who were first- or second-generation immigrants compared with those who were third generation or more (48.3% versus 30.1%; P=0.03). Prevalence of food insecurity among households of children who received care during the COVID-19 pandemic was 5.5% higher than among those who received care before the pandemic, but the difference was not statistically significant (39.6% versus 45.1%; P=0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Forty per cent of children treated at this paediatric obesity clinic lived in a food insecure household. This prevalence may have increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but statistical power was insufficient to confirm it.