Courtney Coughenour1, Brooke Conway Kleven2, Maxim Gakh1, Haroon Stephen3, Lung-Chang Chien2, Brian Labus2, Regis Whaley4. 1. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Mail Stop 3063, 4700 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 335, Las Vegas, NV89119, USA. 2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Mail Stop 3063, 4700 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 335, Las Vegas, NV89119, USA. 3. GIS and Remote Sensing Core Lab & Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Mail Code 4015, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV89154, USA. 4. Three Square Food Bank, 4190 N. Pecos Road, Las Vegas, NV89115, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Food security and school attendance are both important for health, well-being, and academic performance of children and adolescents. However, their intersection remains underexamined, especially in the United States. This study considered the association between elementary school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity. DESIGN: This study linked school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity rates using GIS mapping and applied the tobit regression model to examine their association. SETTING: The Clark County, Nevada public school district - the fifth largest in the U.S. and in a state with disproportionate food insecurity and chronic school absenteeism rates. PARTICIPANTS: Data consisted of school-level absenteeism rates from 185 elementary schools and Census Tract-level household food insecurity rates. RESULTS: Average daily attendance rates were lower for schools with catchment areas that had higher average household food insecurity (FI), decreasing by -0.0232% per 1% increase in FI rate (p-value=0.022). They were also significantly associated with most absenteeism risk factors. Average daily attendance rate was negatively associated with Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility percentage (-0.010 per 1% increase in FI, p-value<0.001), and Individualized Education Program participation percentage (-0.039% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.033), but positively associated with parent-teacher conference participation rate (0.006% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.025) and white student percentage (0.011% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.022). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests a link between household food insecurity and elementary school-level absenteeism. Understanding this link is important for policy and practice because schools are frequent settings for food insecurity mitigation interventions.
OBJECTIVES: Food security and school attendance are both important for health, well-being, and academic performance of children and adolescents. However, their intersection remains underexamined, especially in the United States. This study considered the association between elementary school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity. DESIGN: This study linked school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity rates using GIS mapping and applied the tobit regression model to examine their association. SETTING: The Clark County, Nevada public school district - the fifth largest in the U.S. and in a state with disproportionate food insecurity and chronic school absenteeism rates. PARTICIPANTS: Data consisted of school-level absenteeism rates from 185 elementary schools and Census Tract-level household food insecurity rates. RESULTS: Average daily attendance rates were lower for schools with catchment areas that had higher average household food insecurity (FI), decreasing by -0.0232% per 1% increase in FI rate (p-value=0.022). They were also significantly associated with most absenteeism risk factors. Average daily attendance rate was negatively associated with Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility percentage (-0.010 per 1% increase in FI, p-value<0.001), and Individualized Education Program participation percentage (-0.039% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.033), but positively associated with parent-teacher conference participation rate (0.006% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.025) and white student percentage (0.011% per 1% increase in FI, p-value=0.022). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests a link between household food insecurity and elementary school-level absenteeism. Understanding this link is important for policy and practice because schools are frequent settings for food insecurity mitigation interventions.
Entities:
Keywords:
Food Security; Food insecurity; School Absenteeism; School Attendance