Food insecurity isn't directly tied to obesity among young children from low-income families – but it is linked to poor overall health, a new study indicates.

Food-insecure households lack consistent access to enough food for an active and healthy life, and the effects on children can be serious. Previous research indicates food-insecure children may be at greater risk of developmental delays, anxiety and poor academic performance, but findings on the link between food insecurity and obesity have been inconsistent.

Researchers didn't find a direct link between household food insecurity and obesity except among kids 25 months to 36 months old, who were 24% more likely to be obese than children their age in food-secure households. It's unclear why those children saw higher obesity rates, but they might have been transitioning from baby-friendly foods to normal foods "which, in food-insecure households, may be low-cost, low nutrient-dense food," the study says.

The lack of a close tie between food insecurity and obesity may be because obesity rates have risen overall, and that growing up in a low-income environment often means kids are growing up in a less nutritious environment. A separate analysis of nearly 7,000 kids found that 18.9% of children from the poorest group were obese from 2011-2014, compared with 10.9% of those from the wealthiest group.

"Growing up in a low-income community – typically with a lack of access to healthy grocery stores, an overabundance of fast-food chains, and few safe areas to play outdoors – increased a preschooler's risk of developing obesity regardless of food security," Maureen Black, a pediatrics professor at the University of Maryland who led the study, said in a statement . "This is quite alarming and indicates a significant public health issue."

Household food insecurity was tied to a higher risk of children being in fair or poor health or having a developmental delay, researchers found.

The findings underscore "the importance of considering nonnutritional factors, including caregiver stress and history of adversity, depression, and anxiety, which often co-occur with food insecurity," the study says.

The Department of Agriculture estimates that 13.9% of U.S. households with children were food insecure in 2018 . The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend s that providers screen for food insecurity and help families access healthy food through public assistance initiatives such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.