Submission ID 130917
| Issue/Objective | Food insecurity is an important social determinant of health and is associated with poor mental health among adolescents. Immigrant and refugee youth may face heightened vulnerability due to settlement challenges, economic precarity, and barriers to social inclusion. However, immigrant youth are often treated as a homogeneous population, with limited evidence on whether migration-related factors shape the mental health consequences of food insecurity. This study examined the association between food insecurity and self-perceived mental health among immigrant youth in British Columbia and assessed whether refugee status and duration of residence in Canada modified this relationship. This aligns with the conference sub-theme of mobility, migration, and immigration by highlighting inequities experienced by migrant youth. |
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| Methodology/Approach | We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2023 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (n ≈ 38,000), a population-based survey of students in Grades 7-12. Food insecurity was measured using two indicators of food-related hardship. Self-rated mental health was dichotomized as poor/fair versus good/excellent. Four psychosocial factors; discrimination, loneliness, family connectedness, and school connectedness, were examined as potential mediators. Analyses were conducted separately for immigrant (N=7,449) and Canadian-born youth (29,173) using complex samples regression models. Mediation was assessed using the Baron and Kenny causal steps framework, with percentage attenuation used to estimate indirect effects. |
| Results | Food insecurity was associated with lower odds of reporting good/excellent mental health among Canadian-born youth (OR=0.38) and immigrant youth (OR=0.52) (p<0.001). All four psychosocial factors significantly mediated this relationship in both groups. Family connectedness showed the strongest mediation effect (Canadian-born: 61.0%; immigrant: 68.4%), followed by loneliness (36.7% vs 51.7%), school connectedness (34.1% vs 50.5%), and discrimination (27.7% vs 29.8%). Mediation effects were consistently stronger among immigrant youth. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | Food insecurity affects adolescent mental health partly through psychosocial pathways, with stronger effects observed among immigrant youth. These findings suggest that responses to food insecurity should move beyond food provision alone to include family-strengthening, school belonging, anti-discrimination, and loneliness reduction strategies. Reclaiming global health equity requires coordinated action that addresses both material hardship and the social conditions shaping migrant youth well-being. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Silvia Odhiambo University of Alberta Elizabeth Saewyc University of British Columbia Patrick Owuor Wayne State University Elizabeth Onyango University of Alberta |
