Interrelationship between food security status, home availability of variety of fruits and vegetables and their dietary intake among low-income pregnant women

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveTo (i) determine differences in the availability of variety of fruits and vegetables (F&V) at home by food security status; and (ii) examine the inter-associations between food security status, availability of variety of F&V at home and frequency of F&V intake, among low-income pregnant women.Design/SettingParticipants were interviewed to collect food security status, home availability of variety of F&V and frequency of F&V intake. Bivariate analyses, multivariate regression and exploratory mediation analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0 and the PROCESS macro.SubjectsLow-income pregnant women (n 198) were interviewed if they were ≥18 years of age, in the second trimester of pregnancy, and spoke English or Spanish.ResultsLow/very low food security was found among 43 % of participants. Compared with fully food-secure participants, very low food-secure participants reported a lower variety of fruits (P=0·028) and vegetables (P=0·058) available at home. Mediation analyses indicated that through home availability of variety of fresh F&V, food security status was associated with the daily intake of F&V (indirect effect (95 % CI): fresh fruits, −0·039 (−0·074, −0·013); fresh vegetables, −0·048 (−0·083, −0·023)). As food security worsened, the available variety of fresh F&V decreased, which was associated with lower intake.ConclusionsThe study highlights the interlink between food security, home food environment and diet quality, and the importance of nutrition education intervention to promote a healthy home food environment and improved pregnancy outcomes among low-income women.