Household food security discordance among latino adolescents and parents

Objectives: We determined the degree of parent-adolescent concordance in reported household food security, and delineated variation in concordance as a function of selected household and parent-adolescent relationship characteristics. Methods: Cross-tabulations and Cohen’s Kappa determined concordance. Multinomial logistic regressions delineated variation in concordance as a function of selected household and parent-adolescent relationship characteristics for Latino parent and adolescent dyads (N = 70). Results: Nearly half the households had concordant reports of household food security, but 34% were “discordant” such that parents reported food insecurity but adolescents did not, and 17% were “discordant” wherein adolescents reported food insecurity but parents did not. Elevated parent-adolescent conflict was associated with greater odds of discordance wherein adolescent reported food insecurity but parent did not. Households with female adolescents and income = $30,000/year were associated with lower odds of discordance wherein parent reported food insecurity but adolescent did not. Conclusions: Discordant reports of Latino household food security suggest the burden of unequal access to sufficient foods may be underestimated. Discordant reports may follow from cultural values that may encourage adolescents to keep hunger from their parents.