Food insecurity and psychological distress in Inuit adolescents of Nunavik

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims at measuring the association between household food insecurity and psychological distress in adolescents in Inuit communities, concurrently and overtime from childhood to adolescence. Design: The study used measures of internalising behaviours (anxiety, withdrawn attitude, somatic complaints and depression) as indicators of psychological distress during adolescence, a concurrent measure of household food insecurity in adolescence and an assessment of longitudinal patterns of household food insecurity from childhood to adolescence. We collected descriptive information at birth, childhood and adolescence on potential confounders. Setting: Inuit communities of Nunavik in northern Quebec, Canada Participants: The study consisted of 212 participants from the Nunavik Child Development Study, who have been assessed at birth, childhood (mean age = 11 years, range = 9–13 years) and adolescence (mean age = 18 years, range = 16–21 years). Results: Concurrent severe household food insecurity in adolescence was associated with higher measures of psychological distress: depression (βstd = 0·26, P < 0·01) and withdrawn attitude (βstd = 0·20, P = 0·04). Persistent household food insecurity (both at childhood and adolescence) was associated with higher levels of adolescent depression (βstd = 0·18, P = 0·02) and anxiety (βstd = 0·17, P = 0·03). Conclusions: Adolescents from Nunavik living with higher food insecurity and those having experienced food insecurity in both childhood and adolescence were more likely to report symptoms of psychological distress. Considering the high level of distress experienced by young Inuit, existing initiatives to reduce food insecurity in Nunavik communities should be targeted to include children and adolescents.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Food Insecurity in Childhood and Their Associations With Mental Health and Functioning in Adolescence

“…As expected, given the shorter follow-up period, this estimate was above the prevalence of high (recurrent) risk for food insecurity reported in the present study (ie, 3.6%). Prevalence of recurrent food insecurity during childhood has been reported elsewhere but in more socioeconomically disadvantaged cohorts, 10 , 20 , 38 limiting comparisons with our study.…”

“…Similar to poverty, 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 food insecurity can be transient or recurrent, and recurrent food insecurity may be a household marker of risk for poorer health outcomes. 10 , 20 However, most studies have typically relied on few measures of food insecurity over intervals of 2 to 4 years that have often been aggregated into a single indicator of any past food insecurity during childhood or adolescence. 7 , 8 Tracking trajectories of food insecurity and their correlates from the first years of life to the transition into adolescence may guide the tailoring of interventions for at-risk households.…”

Socio-demographic and substance use characteristics of unintentional injuries among Nunavik youth

“…NCDS is a prospective longitudinal mother-child cohort study initiated in 1995 in Nunavik which followed children at age 1, 5, 9–13 and 16–21 years old with the primary aim to examine the effects of pre- and postnatal exposure to environmental contaminants on child growth, development and behaviour. Children from NCDS were recruited from two ongoing research projects in Nunavik between November 1993 and March 2002 (Cord Blood Monitoring Programand US National Institutes of Health infancy study) in which their mother was enrolled ( Figure 1 ) [ 20 , 21 ]. Between January 2013 and February 2016, youth now aged 16 to 21 years old who participated in both the prenatal and childhood study and currently residing in Nunavik were eligible to participate in the fourth phase of the study.…”

“…Between January 2013 and February 2016, youth now aged 16 to 21 years old who participated in both the prenatal and childhood study and currently residing in Nunavik were eligible to participate in the fourth phase of the study. Forty-nine participants were excluded because they were either deceased, incarcerated or unreachable and 28 participants refused to participate, resulting in 212 youth included the NCDS-Adolescence study ( Figure 1 )[ 21 ]. Girls were more likely than boys to be followed through adolescence (56% of girls vs 44% of boys, p = 0.02), but there were no other differences (maternal age, parity, birth weight or cord blood concentration (Hg, Pb, DHA) between youth included in the NCDS-Adolescence study and those no longer enrolled.…”

Contextual factors associated with depression among Northern and Indigenous adolescents in the Northwest Territories, Canada

“…Approximately one in six people in the NWT and Yukon experience food insecurity (Tarasuk et al, 2019). A study in Nunavik reported that severe household food insecurity in adolescence was associated with the concurrent symptoms of depression and withdrawn attitude, and adolescents who experienced persistent household food insecurity during childhood and adolescence reported increased depression and anxiety (Bradette-Laplante et al, 2020). A national population-based study with the Canadian Community Health Survey found that severe food insecurity was consistently associated with increased mortality from suicide (Men et al, 2020).…”