Application of Noninferiority Tests to Examine the Food Insecurity-Obesity Relationship in Children.

This study applies non-inferiority 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 non-inferiority testing to evaluate the overweight-food security association. Odds of being overweight in the Food Insecure (FI) group were .643 (95% CI .525 to .788) while odds from the Food Secure (FS) group were .570 (95% CI .464 to .697), OR=1.127 (P=.004). These findings held across sub-groups of gender, race, and family conflict. Children whose parent indicated education beyond high school showed a reversal with FI odds of overweight less than FS odds (OR=.663). As illustrated in this study, non-inferiority testing provides an alternative analytic approach to examining the association between FI and weight in children.