Food insecurity and diet quality in migrant sub-Saharan African and Caribbean households in Ottawa, Canada

Food insecurity is an important social determinant of health hindering Canadians’ capacity to implement dietary recommendations. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 182 mothers born in Sub-Saharan Africa or the Caribbean living in Ottawa and their 6-to-12 years-old children. The study aimed to assess the association between food security status and children’s diet quality and to assess, among food insecure households, associations between children’s age and gender and their diet quality. Health Canada’s Household Food Security Survey Module was used to assess households’ food security status in the past 12 months. Children’s dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall and diet quality was evaluated using the 2009 Canadian Healthy Eating Index (HEIC-2009). Multivariate linear, logistic regressions and chi-square test were performed. The HEIC-2009 score averaged 62.7/100. While household food insecurity was not associated with children’s overall diet quality, age and gender were associated with the consumption of specific food groups among food insecure households. In this regard, older children were more likely to have low intakes of grain products and milk and alternatives, while younger children were more likely to have high intakes of saturated fats, sodium, and energy from “other foods”. Girls were more likely to have low intakes of milk and alternatives and unsaturated fats. This study contributes to understanding dietary intakes of food insecure children from Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean migrant households living in Ottawa. Additional research is needed to explain why these age- and gender-related differences exist and compare these results to other Canadian population groups.