This page was translated automatically from Turkish. Read the original

This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0714

The association between food insecurity and mental health problems in children and adolescents: a systematic review

ASSOCIATION OF FOOD INSECURITY AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

In a review encompassing four studies and approximately 310,000 individuals, food insecurity was consistently associated with depression, anxiety, behavioral problems, stress, and disordered eating in children and adolescents.

The aim of the review was to examine the association between food insecurity and mental health problems in children and adolescents and to identify commonly reported psychological outcomes associated with different levels of food insecurity. Conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020, the systematic review included quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies that assessed food insecurity using validated scales and reported a measurable mental health outcome; studies involving adults aged 20 years and older, those not using validated measures or not reporting a mental health outcome, and reviews, meta-analyses, and editorials were excluded. The search covered January 2010 to June 2026; 28 records were screened, and 4 studies involving a total of 310,000 individuals aged 0–19 years were included in the review. Among children living in food-insecure households, outpatient visits for substance use disorders were 55% higher, and acute care visits were 74% higher. Severe food insecurity was associated with higher odds of unresolved behavioral problems in children (adjusted OR 10.09) and depression (6.64), anxiety (3.27), and behavioral problems (5.57) in adolescents. Food insecurity was also associated with increased perceived stress, emotional eating, and disordered eating in adolescents, with stress moderating the association between emotional eating and disordered eating; children with low food security had 5.19 times the odds of exposure to violence compared with food-secure children (95% confidence interval 4.48–6.02). The authors emphasize the importance of screening for food insecurity in pediatric and mental health settings to identify at-risk children early and recommend longitudinal and intervention studies to clarify the association.

All WCP 2026 summaries