School Absenteeism Is Linked To Household Food Insecurity In School Catchment Areas In Southern Nevada

Objectives: Food security and school attendance are both important for health, well-being and academic performance of children and adolescents. However, their intersection remains underexamined, especially in the USA. The current study considered the association between elementary school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity. Design: The current study linked school-level absenteeism and household food insecurity rates using geographic information system mapping and applied the tobit regression model to examine their association. Setting: The Clark County, Nevada, public school district - the fifth largest in the USA and in a state with disproportionate food insecurity and chronic school absenteeism rates. Participants: Data consisted of school-level absenteeism rates from 185 elementary schools and census tract-level household food insecurity rates. Results: Average daily attendance rates were lower for schools with catchment areas that had higher average household food insecurity (FI), decreasing by -0 center dot 0232 % per 1 % increase in FI rate (P-value = 0 center dot 022). They were also significantly associated with most absenteeism risk factors. Average daily attendance rate was negatively associated with Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility percentage (-0 center dot 010 per 1 % increase in FI, P-value < 0 center dot 001) and Individualized Education Program participation percentage (-0 center dot 039 % per 1 % increase in FI, P-value = 0 center dot 033), but positively associated with parent-teacher conference participation rate (0 center dot 006 % per 1 % increase in FI, P-value = 0 center dot 025) and white student percentage (0 center dot 011 % per 1 % increase in FI, P-value = 0 center dot 022). Conclusions: The current study suggests a link between household food insecurity and elementary school-level absenteeism. Understanding this link is important for policy and practice because schools are frequent settings for food insecurity mitigation interventions.