# Project 3:  Isolating food insecurity to understand childhood health outcomes and biological mechanisms of risk

> **NIH NIH P20** · MIRIAM HOSPITAL · 2022 · $252,358

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Food insecurity affects one in seven households with children in the United States and disproportionately
impacts those headed by women and minorities. Food insecurity is associated with childhood obesity, asthma,
anxiety and depression and behavioral problems, and thus contributes to health disparities. While food
insecurity likely contributes to poor health through its effect on diet, such a simplistic understanding likely
obscures the effects of stress – those unique to childhood, such as Adverse Childhood Experiences including
maternal depression, as well as those generally associated with the experience of poverty. To inform the
mechanisms by which food insecurity ultimately affects physical and mental health outcomes in children, this
study will disentangle the effects of food insecurity from those of poverty and examine effects on diet,
biomarkers, weight gain, mood and behavior while considering other childhood adversities. Specifically,
through a unique summertime meal provision intervention, the proposed project will isolate the experience of
food insecurity in children, ages 8-12 years, from low-income households in Providence, RI. In partnership with
the YMCA of Greater Providence and the Healthy Communities Office in Providence, we will recruit 100
children over two summers. After completing a baseline assessment, participants will be randomized to the
Food Insecure or Food Secure groups. Children randomized to the Food Insecure group will experience the
natural onset of summertime food insecurity and receive a weekly newsletter on community resources that is
not expected to affect food insecurity. Those randomized to the Food Secure group will remain food secure
over the summer through receipt of weekly shipments of five breakfast and lunch meals that meet the nutrition
needs of this age group. Primary endpoints include diet quality, biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome,
inflammation, and stress, BMI z-scores, and child measures of behavior and anxiety and depression
symptoms. We will also explore the impact of caregiver mood and stress on the health effects of food
insecurity. Ultimately, findings from this research will clarify the mechanisms by which food insecurity affects
child health outcomes and inform how to more effectively prevent food insecurity. They will also provide the
foundation for an R01 application and further training for Dr. Evans (PI) to establish an independent research
career focused on understanding the role of diet in the prevention of health disparities in disadvantaged youth.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10478822
- **Project number:** 5P20GM139767-02
- **Recipient organization:** MIRIAM HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** E. Whitney Evans
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $252,358
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10478822

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10478822, Project 3:  Isolating food insecurity to understand childhood health outcomes and biological mechanisms of risk (5P20GM139767-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10478822. Licensed CC0.

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