Objective: To examine the effects of hunger, an extreme manifestation of food insecurity, on subsequent health outcomes using data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY).Design: Longitudinal survey, 1994Longitudinal survey, -2004Longitudinal survey, /2005. Setting: Canada.Participants: A total of 5809 children aged 10 to 15 years and 3333 youth aged 16 to 21 years. Main Exposures:Longitudinal survey data spanning a 10-year period were analyzed using logistic regression. Measures of hunger from NLSCY cycles 1 through 5 were used to differentiate participants who were ever hungry from those who were never hungry. A 3-level variable was created to assess the effect of repeated episodes of hunger. Covariates included participants' age, sex, baseline health, and household sociodemographic characteristics. Stratified models were used to examine the relation between hunger and health among boys and girls separately.Outcome Measures: The NLCSY cycle 6 outcomes included poor general health, chronic health conditions, and asthma.Results: Among children, both ever being hungry and multiple episodes of hunger were associated with poorer general health but not with chronic conditions or asthma. Higher odds of chronic conditions and of asthma were observed among youth who experienced multiple episodes of hunger compared with those who were never hungry. Associations between hunger and poorer health outcomes persisted among girls in stratified analyses.Conclusions: Children and youth who experience hunger are more likely to have poorer health, and repeated exposure appears to be particularly toxic. Our findings point to the relevance of food insecurity in childhood as a marker of vulnerability, with implications for clinical practice and advocacy.

Background: Although oral health has improved remarkably in recent decades, not all populations have benefited equally. Ethnic identity, and in particular visible minority status, has been identified as an important risk factor for poor oral health. Canadian research on ethnic disparities in oral health is extremely limited. The aim of this study was to examine ethnic disparities in oral health outcomes and to assess the extent to which ethnic disparities could be accounted for by demographic, socioeconomic and caries-related behavioral factors, among a population-based sample of grade 1 and 2 schoolchildren (age range: 5-8 years) in Alberta, Canada. Methods: A dental survey (administered during 2013-14) included a mouth examination and parent questionnaire. Oral health outcomes included: 1) percentage of children with dental caries; 2) number of decayed, extracted/missing (due to caries) and filled teeth; 3) percentage of children with two or more teeth with untreated caries; and 4) percentage of children with parental-ratings of fair or poor oral health. We used multivariable regression analysis to examine ethnic disparities in oral health, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and caries-related behavioral variables. Results: We observed significant ethnic disparities in children's oral health. Most visible minority groups, particularly Filipino and Arab, as well as Indigenous children, were more likely to have worse oral health than White populations. In particular, Filipino children had an almost 5-fold higher odds of having severe untreated dental problems (2 or more teeth with untreated caries) than White children. Adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, and caries-related behavior variables attenuated but did not eliminate ethnic disparities in oral health, with the exception of Latin American children whose outcomes did not differ significantly from White populations after adjustment. Conclusions: Significant ethnic disparities in oral health exist in Alberta, Canada, even when adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and caries-related behavioral factors, with Filipino, Arab, and Indigenous children being the most affected.

BackgroundThe neighbourhood environment may play an important role in diet quality. Most previous research has examined the associations between neighbourhood food environment and diet quality, and neighbourhood socioeconomic status and diet quality separately. This study investigated the independent and joint effects of neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood socioeconomic status in relation to diet quality in Canadian adults.MethodsWe undertook a cross-sectional study with n = 446 adults in Calgary, Alberta (Canada). Individual-level data on diet and socio-demographic and health-related characteristics were captured from two self-report internet-based questionnaires, the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire II (C-DHQ II) and the Past Year Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). Neighbourhood environment data were derived from dissemination area level Canadian Census data, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) databases. Neighbourhood was defined as a 400 m network-based ‘walkshed’ around each participant’s household. Using GIS we objectively-assessed the density, diversity, and presence of specific food destination types within the participant’s walkshed. A seven variable socioeconomic deprivation index was derived from Canadian Census variables and estimated for each walkshed. The Canadian adapted Healthy Eating Index (C-HEI), used to assess diet quality was estimated from food intakes reported on C-DHQ II. Multivariable linear regression was used to test for associations between walkshed food environment variables, walkshed socioeconomic status, and diet quality (C-HEI), adjusting for individual level socio-demographic and health-related covariates. Interaction effects between walkshed socioeconomic status and walkshed food environment variables on diet quality (C-HEI) were also tested.ResultsAfter adjustment for covariates, food destination density was positively associated with the C-HEI (β 0.06, 95 % CI 0.01-0.12, p = 0.04) though the magnitude of the association was small. Walkshed socioeconomic status was not significantly associated with the C-HEI. We found no statistically significant interactions between walkshed food environment variables and socioeconomic status in relation to the C-HEI. Self-reported physical and mental health, time spent in neighbourhood, and dog ownership were also significantly (p < .05) associated with diet quality.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that larger density of local food destinations may is associated with better diet quality in adults.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3631-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.