Screening for Social Determinants of Health in Hospitalized Children

Background/Objective: In the United States, about 18% of children less than 18 years of age were living in poverty in 2016, and about 16 million children (21%) live in households lacking consistent access to food (Coleman-Jensen, 2015; Jessica Semega, Fontenot, Kayla, & Kollar, Melissa, 2017). Even after controlling for multiple risk factors, studies have shown that children who are food insecure have poorer overall health, are more likely to be hospitalized more frequently and recover from illness more slowly (Cook et al., 2013; Ma, Gee, …