Source: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS submitted to
STRESS, FINANACIAL MANAGEMENT, AND CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
NRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0216847
Grant No.
2009-35215-05182
Project No.
ILLU-470-510
Proposal No.
2008-04361
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
31.5
Project Start Date
Jan 15, 2009
Project End Date
Jan 14, 2013
Grant Year
2009
Project Director
Gundersen, C.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
AGRICULTURAL AND CONSUMER ECONOMICS
Non Technical Summary
From this project, policymakers and program administrators will benefit from gaining a better understanding of the relationship between family-level stressors and child obesity. An example of a nutrition health implication from this research is that assisting families by reducing financial stress may have the further benefit of reducing child obesity, and potentially reducing costs to health-related programs such as Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). In addition, families may be better prepared to weather financially stressful events and potentially avoid financial difficulties. Nutrition educators and financial planners will benefit as well. They will have a better sense of the relationship between financial and physical well-being. For example, in their conversations with families, educators and planners may need to emphasize a holistic and long-term view of family well-being.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
6076020301015%
6076020101010%
6076020209010%
6106020301010%
6106020101010%
6106020209010%
8016020301015%
8016020101010%
8016020209010%
Knowledge Area
607 - Consumer Economics; 610 - Domestic Policy Analysis; 801 - Individual and Family Resource Management;

Subject Of Investigation
6020 - The family and its members;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 3010 - Economics; 2090 - Statistics, econometrics, and biometrics;
Goals / Objectives
Approximately one in three U.S. children are overweight or at-risk of being overweight, making it a critical public health issue. In part, this concern is due to the negative current and future physical, psychological, and social consequences associated with childhood obesity. We understand many of the behavioral and environmental factors for why some children are obese and others are not. Among other factors, genetic predisposition to obesity, limited exercise, and poor eating habits are some of the reasons for childhood obesity. A recently-funded NRI project produced evidence that another factor, the stress being faced by millions of Americans, is associated with an increased likelihood of childhood obesity. Our first research question builds on this work. 1. What are the effects of household financial stress on childhood obesity In pursuing this question, we will build on recent work on stress and childhood obesity by looking at a wider set of measures of financial stress. These measures will examine financial stress from objective and subjective perspectives. In light of the increasingly precarious financial situations of millions of Americans (e.g., the recent increase in the number of mortgage foreclosures), understanding more about the effects of financial stress on childhood obesity is especially important. The next step is then to see how public policies in the form of effective interventions can address this problem. This leads to our second research question. 2. How do financial management skills help alleviate the effects of financial stress on childhood obesity There are many potential ways that policymakers and program administrators can help families facing financial stress. For example, one way is to encourage eligible families to receive food stamps which may enable these families to avoid some financial stressors. Another way, and one that has been at the forefront of Cooperative Extension activities, has been to educate families about how to better manage their finances and, in particular, their food budgets. Examples include CSREES' Financial Security in Later Life (FSLL) and eXtension's Personal Finance resource area and the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNE) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP). By improving families' financial management skills, they may be better prepared to weather financially stressful events and, moreover, potentially avoid at least a subset of financial problems. Unfortunately, data sets do not exist with the necessary information to answer both of these questions. In light of this lack of available data, we will design and implement a survey of approximately 750 households with children to obtain data on childhood overweight measures, financial stress, and financial management skills. Surveyed households will be randomly selected from three Midwestern states and include urban and rural areas. Along with allowing us to answer the two central questions of this project, our data will be a vital resource to other researchers and so we will make these data publicly available.
Project Methods
Currently, there does not exist a data set with information on childhood obesity, financial stress, and financial management skills. While there are data sets with questions on any one of these areas or, in some limited instances, the first two areas, there is no data set with information on all three of these areas. To address this gap, we will conduct a survey of sampled households, called the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity. The data we collect will not only be germane to the questions we are posing in this project, but they will also provide information to address a wide set of other questions posed by other researchers. To enable other research in this area, we will make these data available to other researchers via a website we will develop for disseminating the data and research findings. Our target population for the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity is households in poorer counties of Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan. While financial stress can occur across the income spectrum, its consequences and its prevalence are more severe for households with lower incomes. So, to concentrate on counties with higher proportions of families falling into this situation, we limit our target population and sample to counties with poverty rates for children under the age of 18 that are greater than 20%. Data collection for the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity will involve two components: (1) a telephone interview to obtain information on household financial assets, management skills, financial stressors, food insecurity, demographics, and adult-reported height and weight for each child; and (2) a brief follow-up mail survey to obtain measured height and weight for each child in the household. Overall, the data collected can be divided into five broad areas - child BMI status, financial stress measures (both objective and subjective), financial management skills (based on respondent's answers to 18 standard questions about financial acumen), food insecurity, and relevant covariates (demographic and economic characteristics, parents' discount rate, and parents' level of risk tolerance). After collecting and cleaning the data, we will analyze the data using standard and appropriate econometric techniques to address the two central questions of this project. These analyses will use probit maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) models for cases where we are considering binary outcomes (e.g. overweight versus not overweight) and OLS models for cases where we are considering continuous outcomes (e.g,. BMI percentiles). With these estimations methods, we first consider specifications with just financial stress variables and other relevant covariates. We then consider specifications with financial stress variables, measures of financial management skills, the interactions of these, and other relevant covariates. These interactions allow us to see how financial management skills of individuals help moderate the impact of financial stress on childhood obesity.

Progress 01/15/09 to 01/14/13

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Until the data set described below, there did not exist a data set with information on childhood obesity, financial stress, and financial management skills. While there are data sets with questions on any one of these areas or, in some limited instances, the first two areas, there is no data set with information on all three of these areas. To address this gap, in this project we conducted a survey of sampled households, called the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity. The data was compiled and is available to researchers on this project as of December, 2010. The data we collected will not only be germane to the questions we are posing in this project, but they will also provide information to address a wide set of other questions posed by other researchers. To enable other research in this area, we will make these data available to other researchers via a website we will develop for disseminating the data and research findings. PARTICIPANTS: PI - Craig Gundersen; co-PI - Steve Garasky; co-PI - Mike Larsen; co-PI - Angela Lyons; co-PI - Sarah Nusser; co-PI - Beth Olson; Assistant Director, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology - Dianne Anderson; Survey Manager - Janice Larson; Data Collection Supervisor - Allison Tyler; Quality Control Supervisor - Jody Fox; Secretary and Key Entry Specialist - Glenda Ashley; Senior Interviewer - Margaret Elbert-Benson; Senior Interviewer - Charlotte Struble; Senior Interviewer - Christopher Hewitt; Interviewer - Victoria Brodersen; Interviewer - Matthew Krummel; Interviewer - Hope Metheny; Interviewer -Claudia Martinez; Interviewer - Christen Meyer; Interviewer - Suzanna Nutter; Interviewer - Rick Sharpe; Interviewer - Sue Thomas; Interviewer - Steve Weiler; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Alejandra Pedraja; Interviewer - Bethany Moore; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Jose del Valle Molina; Interviewer - William Shelley. TARGET AUDIENCES: Results from our work will be shared with academicians, scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. In addition, the data set created from the survey will be made available to interested persons. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
We have conducted numerous analyses, presented work at conferences, written up papers for journals, and provided this data set to interested persons. The work from this project, in the near term, has allowed us to identify the effect of SNAP on childhood obesity and has allowed us to see how the probability of food insecurity differs by financial management skills. Both of these results have important policy implications. For the former, we find that SNAP participation leads to reductions in childhood obesity. This is relevant insofar as it is identifies yet another way SNAP participation leads to improvements in children's well-being. For the latter, we find that those with better financial management skills are less likely to be food insecure. This is relevant insofar as it points out another of the benefits associated with financial management skills and, arguably, it shows how financial management skill training could play a role in alleviating food insecurity.

Publications

  • Gundersen, C. and Garasky, S. 2012. Financial management skills are associated with food insecurity in a sample of households with children in the United States. Journal of Nutrition 142, 1865-1870.
  • Burgstahler, R., Gundersen, C. and Garasky, S. 2012. The supplemental nutrition assistance program, financial stress, and childhood obesity. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 41, 29-42.


Progress 01/15/11 to 01/14/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Until the data set described below, there did not exist a data set with information on childhood obesity, financial stress, and financial management skills. While there are data sets with questions on any one of these areas or, in some limited instances, the first two areas, there is no data set with information on all three of these areas. To address this gap, in this project we conducted a survey of sampled households, called the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity. The data was compiled and is available to researchers on this project as of December, 2010. The data we collected will not only be germane to the questions we are posing in this project, but they will also provide information to address a wide set of other questions posed by other researchers. To enable other research in this area, we will make these data available to other researchers via a website we will develop for disseminating the data and research findings. PARTICIPANTS: PI - Craig Gundersen; co-PI - Steve Garasky; co-PI - Mike Larsen; co-PI - Angela Lyons; co-PI - Sarah Nusser; co-PI - Beth Olson; Assistant Director, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology - Dianne Anderson; Survey Manager - Janice Larson; Data Collection Supervisor - Allison Tyler; Quality Control Supervisor - Jody Fox; Secretary and Key Entry Specialist - Glenda Ashley; Senior Interviewer - Margaret Elbert-Benson; Senior Interviewer - Charlotte Struble; Senior Interviewer - Christopher Hewitt; Interviewer - Victoria Brodersen; Interviewer - Matthew Krummel; Interviewer - Hope Metheny; Interviewer -Claudia Martinez; Interviewer - Christen Meyer; Interviewer - Suzanna Nutter; Interviewer - Rick Sharpe; Interviewer - Sue Thomas; Interviewer - Steve Weiler; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Alejandra Pedraja; Interviewer - Bethany Moore; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Jose del Valle Molina; Interviewer - William Shelley. TARGET AUDIENCES: Results from our work will be shared with academicians, scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. In addition, the data set created from the survey will be made available to interested persons. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Now that we have the data compiled, we have begun analyses. We presented a paper in a full-day workshop that was held the day before the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA). The paper will be published in a special issue of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. We also presented a paper, "Financial Management Skills and Food Insecurity" at the annual meetings of the Association for Public Policy, Policy, and Management (APPAM).

Publications

  • Burgstahler, R., Gundersen, C. and Garasky, S. 2012. The supplemental nutrition assistance program, financial stress, and childhood obesity. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. (In Press).


Progress 01/15/10 to 01/14/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Until the data set described below, there did not exist a data set with information on childhood obesity, financial stress, and financial management skills. While there are data sets with questions on any one of these areas or, in some limited instances, the first two areas, there is no data set with information on all three of these areas. To address this gap, in this project we conducted a survey of sampled households, called the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity. The data was compiled and is available to researchers on this project as of December, 2010. The data we collected will not only be germane to the questions we are posing in this project, but they will also provide information to address a wide set of other questions posed by other researchers. To enable other research in this area, we will make these data available to other researchers via a website we will develop for disseminating the data and research findings. PARTICIPANTS: PI - Craig Gundersen; co-PI - Steve Garasky; co-PI - Mike Larsen; co-PI - Angela Lyons; co-PI - Sarah Nusser; co-PI - Beth Olson; Assistant Director, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology - Dianne Anderson; Survey Manager - Janice Larson; Data Collection Supervisor - Allison Tyler; Quality Control Supervisor - Jody Fox; Secretary and Key Entry Specialist - Glenda Ashley; Senior Interviewer - Margaret Elbert-Benson; Senior Interviewer - Charlotte Struble; Senior Interviewer - Christopher Hewitt; Interviewer - Victoria Brodersen; Interviewer - Matthew Krummel; Interviewer - Hope Metheny; Interviewer -Claudia Martinez; Interviewer - Christen Meyer; Interviewer - Suzanna Nutter; Interviewer - Rick Sharpe; Interviewer - Sue Thomas; Interviewer - Steve Weiler; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Alejandra Pedraja; Interviewer - Bethany Moore; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Jose del Valle Molina; Interviewer - William Shelley TARGET AUDIENCES: Results from our work will be shared with academicians, scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. In addition, the data set created from the survey will be made available to interested persons. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Now that we have the data compiled, we have begun analyses. In the near term, we have submitted paper proposals to two conferences, the annual meetings of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and the Association for Public Policy, Policy, and Management (APPAM). Our paper for the former was accepted and we will have this paper written by June 30th. The decision for the submission to APPAM is still pending.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/15/09 to 01/14/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Currently, there does not exist a data set with information on childhood obesity, financial stress, and financial management skills. While there are data sets with questions on any one of these areas or, in some limited instances, the first two areas, there is no data set with information on all three of these areas. To address this gap, in this project we will conduct a survey of sampled households, called the Survey of Household Finances and Childhood Obesity. The data we collect will not only be germane to the questions we are posing in this project, but they will also provide information to address a wide set of other questions posed by other researchers. To enable other research in this area, we will make these data available to other researchers via a website we will develop for disseminating the data and research findings. In the first year of the project, our plan was to garner IRB approval for the survey and begin our data collection efforts. For the former, we have obtained IRB approval from all three schools involved in this project - University of Illinois, Iowa State University, and Michigan State University. For the latter, as of December 22, 2009, there are 301 completed interviews out of a projected 750 interviews. The 301 completed interviews are from a survey of 4,033 households. The primary reason for non-participation in the survey is because there were no children in the household between the ages of 2 and 17. The remaining interviews will be completed in the upcoming months. PARTICIPANTS: PI - Craig Gundersen; co-PI - Steve Garasky; co-PI - Mike Larsen; co-PI - Angela Lyons; co-PI - Sarah Nusser; co-PI - Beth Olson; Assistant Director, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology - Dianne Anderson; Survey Manager - Janice Larson; Data Collection Supervisor - Allison Tyler; Quality Control Supervisor - Jody Fox; Secretary and Key Entry Specialist - Glenda Ashley; Senior Interviewer - Margaret Elbert-Benson; Senior Interviewer - Charlotte Struble; Senior Interviewer - Christopher Hewitt; Interviewer - Victoria Brodersen; Interviewer - Matthew Krummel; Interviewer - Hope Metheny; Interviewer -Claudia Martinez; Interviewer - Christen Meyer; Interviewer - Suzanna Nutter; Interviewer - Rick Sharpe; Interviewer - Sue Thomas; Interviewer - Steve Weiler; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Alejandra Pedraja; Interviewer - Bethany Moore; Interviewer (Spanish Speaking) - Jose del Valle Molina; Interviewer - William Shelley TARGET AUDIENCES: Results from our work will be shared with academics, scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. In addition, the data set created from the survey will be made available to interested persons. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Once we have the data available in a usable format, we will be disseminating our work through various outlets including refereed journals. In addition, we will release the data set to interested researchers. At this time in our schedule, we do not yet have the data.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period