In-class activity 2/6-2/8

In class activity 2/6-2/8

1. Morrissey, Taryn W.; Oellerich, Don; Meade, Erica. (2016). Neighborhood poverty and children’s food insecurity. Children and Youth Services Review. 66. 85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.05.006

2. Case Control

3. The authors use the case control method to examine data of food insecurity in different levels of poverty ranging from extreme to moderate, and use this information to find where the most vulnerable children are located and how they can be helped. By using this method, they are able to make associations between food insecurity, level of poverty, and household characteristics that create variable differences in low-income homes and relate it back to their insecurity level.

4. The study presents conclusions that if a child lives in a “food desert” this does not correlate with food insecurity in the household. Also, when household characteristics of adults are controlled this directly correlates with food security no matter the level of poverty.

5. One thing I already know is that states fund poverty rich communities through soup kitchens, food drives, etc. and there are always options for people who have trouble supplying food for themselves and their children. What I wasn’t aware of and is interesting to me is the fact that regardless of poverty level, food security is directly related to household characteristics i.e. the parents, who put their children directly at risk of starvation and malnutrition knowingly.

1. Watt, Toni Terling; Appel, Louis; Lopez, Veronica; Flores, Bianca; Lawhon, Brittany. (2015). A Primary Care-Based Early Childhood Nutrition Intervention: Evaluation of a Pilot Program Serving Low-Income Hispanic Women. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
 2(4), 537-547. doi: 10.1007/s40615-015-0102-2

 2. Cohort- Causation/association

 3. The five authors used their knowledge of the associated risks that comes along with low income status, race, and location to aid pregnant mothers and teach them about caring for their child prenatally and well into birth. They named the study a “process and outcome” evaluation to see whether their efforts helped the women and how much they benefitted. The women were given nutrition classes, free food vouchers for farmer’s markets, social support, lactating classes, and more. Although the results didn’t have causal effects on the children’s’ weights at birth, the overall conclusion of the study showed to improve the mother’s knowledge of the importance of their child’s nutrition and their own, it also improved their knowledge of diet, exercise, and showed decreased signs of depression in comparison to the other group of mothers who did not receive care.

 4. An interesting fact I discovered was the fact that so many women do not how to properly care for themselves and their child during pregnancy. Growing up my mother taught me how to do all these things, she taught me how to cook, clean, and take care of myself, but I never thought about who would have taught me all these things if it wasn’t for her. The importance of knowing how to care for yourself before getting pregnant is so detrimental because everything you experience you child will experience.

 1. Adamo, Kristi B; Brett, Kendra E. (2014). Parental Perceptions and Childhood Dietary Quality. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 18(4), 978-995. doi: 10.1007/s10995-013-1326-6

 2. Practice

 3. The authors used a variety of methods to reach conclusions in their literature review. Along with research trials they observed lab-based studies, cohort studies, topical reviews, government reports and interaction and review from families that fit the criteria in question. The authors are trying to find correlations between the concern between child growth and diet quality, parental awareness and attitudes, and parental perceptions of health for themselves and their child. The goal of this study is to determine susceptible children and mothers and provide necessary interventions to help them improve their health. The other primary goal is prevention- if we can find exactly which factors are related to poor parental perceptions related to youth nutrition then there’s a possibly we can teach mothers how to care for their young before their health begins to decline or flatline as such a young age. Prevention is an extremely important aspect of the community health sciences because so much time and funds are used to aid in the recovery of health. If we begin to teach everyone, not just mothers and children, about health strategies at any age then we can reverse these negative effects in their lives and in our communities.

 4. Conclusions found that parents play an integral role in the “development and maintenance” of their child’s nutritional health. Parental perceptions are directly associated with the way their child views nutritional health, and how they learn to take care of themselves. Many parents believe they take care of their own children the way they see fit even the families who could use improvement such as family management in the home. All parents should take their kids grocery shopping with them to teach them the difference between healthy foods and not so healthy foods (supermarket aesthetics), show them how to shop on a budget especially because many of the families whose children express poor nutrition tactics are low income or struggle to make ends meet, and they should be more aware of the family’s health. Parents should also encourage their children to make changes if needed, and they should reiterate to their children that changes don’t happen overnight but over time if that is their goal.

5. It shouldn’t come as such a surprise to me that many families don’t care about or focus on their health as much as they should. This is exactly the reason why I want to work in this field to help educate and teach others how important their health is and how it translates to all aspects of their lives. I think many families begin when the parents are young and still learning to take care of themselves, and this translates later in life when they must care for their children. You find more low income families to be of young age and struggling because they weren’t in a stable position in their lives, financially, to start a family and take care of all the expenses that come along with it. This study showed that an important part of having a family is caring for each aspect of each other’s lives, and when you do this it creates wholesome lives for each member.

 1. Bradley, RH., Corwyn, RF. (2002). Socioeconomic Status and Child Development. Published Annual Review of Psychology. 53(1).doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135233

2. Research

3. The author use this text to spread awareness of the critical time period of growth within a child’s life. Not only do babies need to be taken care of while in embryo what follows afterwards is just as important. The juxtaposition not social economic status and child development are so often studied because the variables that link them together effect all aspects of children’s health. In this study the specific areas of children development that are correlated to SES are health, cognitive, and socialemotional outcomes. I believe this method was chosen so he could explain a variety of outcomes that are related directly to low income families. I also believe this literature review was written to share person knowledge on the research findings that could also aid in intervention as well as prevention methods.

 4. Socioeconomic status in the United States is directly correlated with a multiple aspects of child development. Although these findings are evident it’s remains difficult to directly assess SES to all types of child development or stunts in development. Many other factors translate to poor child development including genetic makeup, income level, environmental circumstances, and relations to ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Many results found in the study came from years of research put together into one literature review. While we’re lucky enough to find all this information in one place the fact is because it generally takes a long time to generate such information. While we’re working on creating intervention/prevention plans there are multiple studies taking place replacing the information we know now. Conclusions also show that because there are so many other factors related to SES and child development there are technically no causes/cures for such interactions. The only thing we can be sure of is taking full advantage of health programs, courses, etc. and educating oneself to the best of their ability to live to our full potential at any age.

5. One thing interesting I learned was that socioeconomic status of a person causes more mental illnesses regardless of race, sex, or age and although SES is not a direct cause in this position there is nothing that can be done to reverse the effects on the brain. Most mental illnesses begin in early childhood although they’re extremely hard to detect, and usually follow a child well into their teenage years before anyone detects the illness.