Exploration of the Temporal and Dynamic Nature of Food Insecurity in Families with Young Children

All studentship projects will be jointly supervised across the two institutions, offering an excellent opportunity for students to undertake research training in an international, collaborative environment, learning new skills and developing valuable networks. You will work with internationally recognised researchers in child health and development.

Students will be primarily based at their home institution (from where they will receive their funding) with a period 6 to 12 months (depending on their personal training schedule) spent studying at their host institution. The timeline for each studentship will be individually tailored to the requirements of the project.

This project is based at Aston University (UK) and is open to students worldwide.

Background

Cross cultural data has demonstrated the associations between poverty, food insecurity, and negative impacts on multiple domains of child health (Gross-Manos et al 2025).

Families experiencing poverty also experience food insecurity, a lack of regular access to adequate, safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active, healthy life. The severity of food insecurity exists along a continuum and may progress from anxiety about obtaining food, to reduced quality and variety of food for adults, and in extreme cases, reduced quantity of food for children. The UK has the highest rate of food insecurity in Europe, affecting 18% of households with children. However, little is known about the temporal nature of food insecurity and the implication for parent feeding and child eating behaviour. Specifically, changes in household food insecurity can change with benefit cycles (e.g., benefits may run out towards the end of the month) or access to transportation (e.g., when a ride is available).

Key targets in addressing obesity in early life include parent feeding practices and child eating behaviour in the early years, which are important for healthy growth throughout childhood. Solutions that are co-developed with clinical and community partners who serve these families are urgently needed.

Objectives

The PhD student will:

1. Model trajectories of food insecurity in the Appetite cohort and determine risk and protective factors that predict trajectories (e.g., employment, Index of Multiple Deprivation, housing status, coping strategies, etc.)
2. Determine the dynamic and temporal nature of food insecurity, child eating behaviour, and parent feeding practices over the course of one month
3. Conduct a qualitative exploration to understand the context around food insecurity in families with young children as well as identify and co-produce solutions and resources with food pantry staff and health visitors.

Methods

Objective 1

Quantitative study in The Appetite in Preschoolers: Producing Evidence for Tailoring Interventions Effectively (APPETItE) cohort (Pickard et al 2023) examines feeding and eating in preschoolers with avid appetites, to understand children’s differential susceptibility to obesogenic environments and inform future intervention efficacy. A subsample of the families enrolled (n=200) report experiencing food insecurity. Mixed effects models will examine various psychosocial factors as predictors of trajectories of food insecurity over time from the APPETItE cohort, testing linear, quadratic, and/or cubic terms for age to determine the best fitting model.

Objective 2

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) will examine dynamic relationships between food insecurity, child eating behaviour, and parent feeding practices over time in parents with children 2-5 years of age. Data collection will include two, two-week bursts at the beginning and end of a month of surveys collected via EMA on mobile phones delivered to participants as REDCap webforms via a link in a text message.

Objective 3

Online qualitative focus groups with service providers on how to better meet the needs of families experiencing food security, especially those with avid eaters who will be more likely to eat well in healthy food environments and have unhealthy diets in unhealthy food environments. Research questions will focus on how services provided can be made culturally appropriate, promote healthy food environments, and be done with preserving patient and client dignity. Coding will follow an iterative, thematic analysis approach using NVivo Software (NVivo 14, 2023). The student will use inductive and deductive coding, using a combination of a priori codes based on theory while allowing for new codes to emerge. A subset of transcripts will be double coded. After coding, interpretation meeting will occur with the research team to discuss themes and subthemes. Themes, solutions, and recommendations for future research from focus groups will serve as the foundation of co-production workshops with service providers.

Outcomes

The PhD project will provide new insights into risk and protective factors of food insecurity over time, how food insecurity, child eating behaviour, and parent feeding changes dynamically and how clinical and community partners can best support them. Focus groups and interviews will highlight practical, evidence-informed strategies for health visitors, pantry staff, and other early years healthcare professionals, providing new insights and interventions that are feasible in families experiencing food insecurity.

Grounding recommendations in the lived experiences of parents and healthcare professionals and working in close partnership with community groups, this work has the potential to inform clinical practice, public health programming, and policy discussions in the UK and Australia about on tackling inequalities in early life nutrition and growth. The findings will support the development of family-centred guidance and resources to promote responsive feeding and healthy child development, generating actionable evidence to reduce health inequalities and give infants the best start in life.

Funding Notes

This is an opportunity to study for a fully-funded PhD fulltime for 3 yrs in both Australia and the UK. Funding will cover fees and a monthly stipend for the duration of the PhD. You will primarily based at your home institution (from where you will receive funding) with a period 6 to 12 months spent studying at your host institution. Funding for one return flight is provided.

Information on funding (including stipend) can be found here, under the Study for a PhD section: View Website