| Detailed Objective: This study examines the relationships among food security, childhood behavior problems, health, and educational achievement, using data from the kindergarten and first grade children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is a unique source of data on a nationally representative sample of approximately 21,000 young children, with survey participation by their families, teachers, and schools. Poverty-related deprivation and stress during early childhood are associated with serious negative impacts on physiological, behavioral, and cognitive development. Conditions related to poverty are associated with impairments in growth, development, and academic achievement among poor children as a result of food insecurity, misnourishment, and reduced access to healthcare. Data from the kindergarten and first grade wave of the ECLS-K enable extensive cross-sectional analyses and a limited amount of repeated measures analyses. In all the analyses, food security status will be the primary exposure variable. Several outcome variables depicting child social development, behavior problems, and academic achievement will be considered. The role of participation in the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in influencing the associations between food insecurity and child outcomes will be examined. Both OLS regression and multivariate logistic regression methods will be used while accounting for sampling scheme and weights |