Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Obesity in Children

To the Editor .— Rose and Bodor1 provide data showing that food insecurity is not associated with obesity in kindergarten children; in fact, their data suggest that food insecurity is associated with lower obesity risk. Their work complements that of Hofferth and Curtin,2 which showed that the children at greatest risk for obesity live in families with incomes between 1 and 3 times the poverty level. We suggest that the findings fold into a general theory governing the relation between poverty and malnutrition.3–5 Decreased income available for discretionary spending molds behavior in families with incomes between 1 and 3 times poverty. The need to pay for food, housing, and getting to work will limit the 1 element with cost that is not fixed: food. Generally, in these circumstances, food selection will narrow to those foods containing …