Associations of food security and maternal education with 6–9-year-old children’s dietary habits

This cross-sectional study examined 156 children from a disadvantaged area in Hungary. Food security was assessed using the USDA 6-item module. Data were analyzed using the Mann – Whitney U-test and Spearman’s correlation. Higher maternal education was associated with higher home availability of vegetables served with dinner (r = 0.259). Fruit (r = 0.293) and cooked vegetable intake (r = 0.273), parental demand (r = 0.318), and allowance for fruit (r = 0.233) and vegetable consumption (r = 0.225) were significantly lower in food-insecure households. These findings highlight that social determinants and the home food environment may influence children’s diets.