Our study highlights the unique effects of different types of material hardship on children’s physical health as reported by their caregivers. 

Overall, our findings show that caregivers’ reports of food hardship are significantly associated with their assessments of their children’s physical health status.

This finding supports previous research identifying food hardship as a major risk factor with respect to children’s physical health.  Although further investigations are warranted, our results highlight the importance of low-income children having access to adequate quantities of food as well as to food that is of high quality.
… There are at least 3 possible explanations for this result. …

One of the major contributions of this study is our examination of the effects of multiple domains of self-reported material hardship on caregivers’ assessments of their children’s health. … Our study also provides an enhanced understanding of within-group variations in health among children from low-income families. A comparison of model fit between a conventional SES model and our material hardship models suggests that in assessments of variations in health among low-income children, more proximal measures of material hardship may provide greater insight than conventional SES measures.

There were several limitations to the study. First, most of the information for our key independent and dependent variables was collected from primary caregivers, and it is possible that this data collection method led to overestimations with respect to the associations observed between the independent and dependent variables.  Second, …Third, … Fourth, … Finally, …

Health inequality among children has been a major topic in public health research. In this study, the significant negative effects of unmet health care needs among low-income children, as reported by their caregivers and explained by caregivers’ own health status, support policies and practices designed to improve the health of children by enhancing both caregivers’ and children’s access.  However, our findings also suggest consideration of alternative strategies for reducing health disparities among low-income children. Such as efforts to ensure that these children have access to better-quality food, higher quantities of food, and better living conditions.