Ethnic/Racial Comparisons in Strategies Parents Use to Cope with Food Insecurity: A Systematic Review of Published Research

Food insecurity in US affects African Americans, Hispanic, and American Indians disproportionately compared to Caucasians. Ethnicity/race may influence the strategies parents use to reduce the effects of food insecurity. The purpose of this review is to compare coping strategies for food insecurity used by parents of different ethnicities/race as reported in published literature. A systematic search on PubMed and Embase yielded 983 studies, of which 13 studies met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. All groups used public and private assistance, social networks, nutrition related, and financial-related strategies. The limited evidence suggests that there are differences in how parents of different ethnicities/race apply these coping strategies. Current evidence is insufficient to confidently determine the extent of these differences. This review is a starting point for exploration of cultural differences in how parents of various ethnicities/race cope with food insecurity and identifies specific areas for further research.