Abstract
To explore the relationship between low birthweight (LBW) and food insecurity across US counties and determine whether this relationship differs between Black and White women.
LBW data was derived from the 2013-2019 National Center for Health Statistics and National Vital Statistics System Birth Files. Food insecurity data was derived from Feeding America's 2013-2019 Map the Meal Gap project. Analyses included descriptive statistics and regression models.
Data were available for 3037 US counties. Food insecurity significantly predicted county-level LBW (t(3035) = 44.48, P < .001) and explained 39.46% of the variance in LBW (F(13,035) = 1978.03, P < .001, R = .63). Food insecurity predicted LBW for both Black (t(1418) = 17.39, P < .001) and White women (t(1918) = 18.26, P < .001) and had a slightly larger effect size for Black women with fitted line plots also supporting a stronger relationship for Black women.
Food insecurity predicts LBW in US counties, and the relationship may be stronger for Black women. Increasing access to healthy food should be considered when planning county-level efforts for improving LBW.