Background: Low income and food insecure households are at risk of poor dietary quality and food insecurity. Especially in childhood, consuming a nutritionally adequate diet is an essential driver of health, growth, and development. Prior research has shown many household-level factors can present challenges to support the nutritional needs of the members of low income and food insecure households. Objective: The aim of the scoping review is to identify the contributing factors to dietary quality and food security in U.S. households of school-aged children and synthesize the evidence. Methods: The scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) using search terms addressing food insecurity, low-income and dietary behaviors in the database PubMed (NCBI). Screening by 3 independent reviewers at the title, abstract, and full study phases identified forty-three studies included in the review. Results: The studies addressed six themes: parental behaviors, child/adolescent behaviors, food procurement behaviors, food preparation behaviors, and psychosocial factors. Most studies were cross-sectional (n = 40, 93%) and focused on parental behaviors (n = 24, 56%), followed by food procurement behaviors, and food preparation behaviors. Conclusion: The findings can be used to inform the development of future nutritional education interventions aimed at improving the dietary quality and food security in households with children. The themes identified were interrelated and suggest that providing parents with education on the following topics: 1) the importance of modeling positive eating behaviors in the home, 2) approaches to support and encourage positive feeding practices with their children, and 3) practical strategies to overcome barriers to purchasing and preparing foods of high nutrient quality. For example, delivering educational sessions on meal selection and preparation and improving nutritional knowledge hold promise to improve dietary quality among food insecure and low-income households.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This work was supported by US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) (grant 2022-68015-36279), and USDA NIFA Hatch project (grant IND030489). The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript.