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Associations among Food Insecurity, Acculturation, Demographic Factors, and Fruit and Vegetable Intake at Home in Hispanic Children

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2008.12.017Get rights and content

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-sectional pilot study was to examine associations between food insecurity, acculturation, demographic factors, and children's fruit and vegetable intake among a sample of Hispanic children ages 5 to 12 years. A convenience sample of 184 parents of low socioeconomic status completed one-time, self-administered questionnaires assessing demographic information, acculturation, and food insecurity in the spring of 2006. In addition, children's fruit and vegetable intake at home was measured using a validated seven-item index. Parents were recruited through local elementary schools in San Antonio, TX. Pearson and Spearman correlations were used to examine the associations between the variables. t tests were used to explore the differences in means of children's fruit and vegetable intake at home for acculturation and food insecurity levels. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Significant correlations were found between demographic variables, acculturation, food insecurity, and children's fruit and vegetable intake at home. The overall mean fruit and vegetable intake at home was 1.04±0.63 (mean±standard deviation) servings per day. Higher rates of acculturation and higher rates of food insecurity were associated with lower fruit and vegetable intake at home. The findings reported in this study suggest a need for culturally tailored interventions targeting Hispanic children because fruit and vegetable intake at home among Hispanic children was low, regardless of the level of acculturation or food insecurity.

Section snippets

Procedure

A cross-sectional study design was used for the pilot study. The Human Subjects Review Boards at the University of Texas School of Public Health and the University of South Carolina approved the study. Because no form of identifying information was collected for the study, the Human Subjects Review determined that obtaining informed consent was not needed and a cover letter was adequate for the purpose of the study. This letter and a questionnaire assessing demographics, acculturation level,

Results and Discussion

Descriptive characteristics of the study sample are presented in Table 1. This study examined the relationship among acculturation, food insecurity, demographic factors, and Hispanic children's fruit and vegetable intake at home. Twelve hundred questionnaires were delivered to the three elementary schools, of which 209 complete surveys were returned. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents were Hispanic (n=184), 7.7 % were white, and 2.9% identified as another racial/ethnic group. Almost 95% of

Conclusion

Despite these limitations, our results demonstrate that in this low-income minority population, level of acculturation and food insecurity are significantly associated with children's fruit and vegetable intake. Interventions are needed for those individuals who are more acculturated, as well as for less-acculturated individuals, with the goal of not changing their healthful “old” dietary patterns.

The findings reported here indicate that public health and dietary education efforts that address

J. M. Dave is a postdoctoral associate, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

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    J. M. Dave is a postdoctoral associate, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

    A. E. Evans is an associate professor, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin

    R. P. Saunders is an associate professor and K. W. Watkins is a clinical associate professor, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia

    K. A. Pfeiffer is an assistant professor, Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing

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