Auxiliary measures to assess factors related to food insecurity: Preliminary testing and baseline characteristics of newly designed hunger-coping scales

Courtney Pinard, Teresa M Smith, Eric E Calloway, Hollyanne E Fricke, Farryl M Bertmann, Amy L Yaroch, Courtney Pinard, Teresa M Smith, Eric E Calloway, Hollyanne E Fricke, Farryl M Bertmann, Amy L Yaroch

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to describe the development and preliminary testing of new scales to assess hunger-coping behaviors in a very low-income population. Very low-income adults (≥ 19 years), caregivers to at least one child (n = 306) completed a survey in a community setting (e.g., libraries). The survey included novel items assessing hunger-coping behaviors (e.g., trade-offs to purchase food, strategies to stretch and obtain food), food insecurity status, and physiological hunger. Internal consistency of hunger-coping scales, one-way ANOVAs, post-hoc analyses, Spearman's correlations among variables. Respondents were 75% female, 51% African American, 34% White, and 15% Hispanic, and 73% earned <$20,000/year. Four scales emerged: hunger-coping trade-offs, financial coping strategies, rationing coping strategies, and physiological adult hunger symptoms. All scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (α/KR-20 = 0.70-0.90). Predictive, construct, and content validity were demonstrated by correlations between hunger-coping scales and food insecurity (FI), measured with the USDA 6-item HFSSM (rs = 0.42-0.68, ps < 0.001). Higher levels of hunger-coping trade-offs (F(2,297) = 42.54, p < 0.001), financial coping strategies (F(2,287) = 70.77, p < 0.001), and rationing coping strategies (F(2,284) = 69.19, p < 0.001), corresponded with increasing levels of FI. These preliminary results support use of newly developed hunger-coping scales in a very low-income population and can compliment traditional food security measures to inform hunger prevention policy and programming.

Keywords: Food insecurity; Hunger-coping; Psychometrics; Survey.

References

    1. Adams E.J., Grummer-Strawn L., Chavez G. Food insecurity is associated with increased risk of obesity in California women. J. Nutr. 2003;133(4):1070–1074.
    1. Aggarwal A., Monsivais P., Drewnowski A. Nutrient intakes linked to better health outcomes are associated with higher diet costs in the US. PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e37533.
    1. Alaimo K., Olson C.M., Frongillo E.A. Importance of cognitive testing for survey items: an example from food security questionnaires. J. Nutr. Educ. 1999;31(5):269–275.
    1. Anater A.S., McWilliams R., Latkin C.A. Food acquisition practices used by food-insecure individuals when they are concerned about having sufficient food for themselves and their households. J. Hunger Environ. Nutr. 2011;6(1):27–44.
    1. Bickel G., Nord M., Price C., Hamilton W., Cook J. Guide to measuring household food security 2000. 2010. (June) (450)
    1. Cafiero C., Melgar-Quiñonez H.R., Ballard T.J., Kepple A.W. Validity and reliability of food security measures. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2014;1331(1):230–248.
    1. Campbell C.C., Desjardins E. A model and research approach for studying the management of limited food resources by low income families. J. Nutr. Educ. 1989;21(4):162–171.
    1. Campbell M.K., Quintiliani L.M. Tailored interventions in public health where does tailoring fit in interventions to reduce health disparities? Am. Behav. Sci. 2006;49(6):775–793.
    1. Coleman-Jensen A., Gregory C., Singh A. Household food security in the United States in 2013. 2014. (accessed February 5, 2015)
    1. Cook J.T., Frank D.A. Food security, poverty, and human development in the United States. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2008;1136(1):193–209.
    1. Cook J.T., Frank D.A., Berkowitz C., Black M.M., Casey P.H., Cutts D.B., Meyers A.F., Zaldivar N., Skalicky A., Levenson S., Heeren T. Food insecurity is associated with adverse health outcomes among human infants and toddlers. J. Nutr. 2004;134(6):1432–1438.
    1. Dave J.M., Evans A.E., Saunders R.P., Watkins K.W., Pfeiffer K.A. Associations among food insecurity, acculturation, demographic factors, and fruit and vegetable intake at home in Hispanic children. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2009;109(4):697–701.
    1. Dietz W.H. Does hunger cause obesity? Pediatrics. 1995;95(5):766–767.
    1. Dinour L.M., Bergen D., Yeh M.-C. The food insecurity-obesity paradox: a review of the literature and the role food stamps may play. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2007;107(11):1952–1961.
    1. Drewnowski A. Obesity and the food environment: dietary energy density and diet costs. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2004;27(3, Suppl):154–162.
    1. Feeding America
    1. Finney Rutten L.J., Yaroch A.L., Colón-Ramos U., Johnson-Askew W., Story M. Poverty, food insecurity, and obesity: a conceptual framework for research, practice, and policy. J. Hunger Environ. Nutr. 2010;5(4):403–415.
    1. Franklin B., Jones A., Love D., Puckett S., Macklin J., White-Means S. Exploring mediators of food insecurity and obesity: a review of recent literature. J. Community Health. 2012;37(1):253–264.
    1. Gleason P.M., Harris J., Sheean P.M., Boushey C.J., Bruemmer B. Publishing nutrition research: validity, reliability, and diagnostic test assessment in nutrition-related research. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2010;110(3):409–419.
    1. Hamilton W.L., Cook J.T. 1997. Household Food Security in the United States in 1995: Technical Report of the Food Security Measurement Project.
    1. Hoisington A., Shultz J.A., Butkus S. Coping strategies and nutrition education needs among food pantry users. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 2002;34(6):326–333.
    1. Jezovit A. Cheap Twix: junk food offers more calories for your cash. Grist. 2011. (August) (accessed January 26, 2015)
    1. Kelley K., Clark B., Brown V., Sitzia J. Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. Int. J. Qual. Health Care. 2003;15(3):261–266.
    1. Kempson K., Keenan D.P., Sadani P.S., Adler A. Maintaining food sufficiency: coping strategies identified by limited-resource individuals versus nutrition educators. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 2003;35(4):179–188.
    1. Kincheloe J.L., McLaren P. Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. Ethnogr. Sch. Qual. Approaches. 2002;87–138
    1. Knapp T.R. Focus on psychometrics. Coefficient alpha: conceptualizations and anomalies. Res. Nurs. Health. 1991;14(6):457–460.
    1. Laraia B.A., Siega-Riz A.M., Gundersen C., Dole N. Psychosocial factors and socioeconomic indicators are associated with household food insecurity among pregnant women. J. Nutr. 2006;136(1):177–182.
    1. Larson N.I., Story M.T. Food insecurity and weight status among U.S. children and families: a review of the literature. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2011;40(2):166–173.
    1. Leung C.W., Williams D.R., Villamor E. Very low food security predicts obesity predominantly in California Hispanic men and women. Public Health Nutr. 2012;15(12):2228–2236.
    1. Noar S.M., Benac C.N., Harris M.S. Does tailoring matter? Meta-analytic review of tailored print health behavior change interventions. Psychol. Bull. 2007;133(4):673–693.
    1. Nord M., Golla A.M. 2009. Does SNAP Decrease Food Insecurity. Untangling Self-sel Eff.
    1. Olson C.M. Nutrition and health outcomes associated with food insecurity and hunger. J. Nutr. 1999;129(2):521S–524S.
    1. Pan L., Sherry B., Njai R., Blanck H.M. Food insecurity is associated with obesity among US adults in 12 states. J. Acad. Nutr. Diet. 2012;112(9):1403–1409.
    1. Polivy J. Psychological consequences of food restriction. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1996;96(6):589–592.
    1. Putnam J., Allshouse J., Kantor L.S. US per capita food supply trends: more calories, refined carbohydrates, and fats. Food Rev. 2002;25(3):2–15.
    1. Rose-Jacobs R., Black M.M., Casey P.H., Cook J.T., Cutts D.B., Chilton M., Heeren T., Levenson S.M., Meyers A.F., Frank D.A. Household food insecurity: associations with at-risk infant and toddler development. Pediatrics. 2008;121(1):65–72.
    1. Seligman H.K., Laraia B.A., Kushel M.B. Food insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-income NHANES participants. J. Nutr. 2010;140(2):304–310.
    1. Steenhuis I.H.M., Waterlander W.E., de Mul A. Consumer food choices: the role of price and pricing strategies. Public Health Nutr. 2011;14(12):2220–2226.
    1. Story M., Kaphingst K.M., Robinson-O'Brien R., Glanz K. Creating healthy food and eating environments: policy and environmental approaches. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 2008;29:253–272.
    1. Tolzman C. 2013. Perceived Barriers in Accessing Adequate Nutrition Among Food Insecure Households Within a Food Desert.
    1. Townsend M.S., Peerson J., Love B., Achterberg C., Murphy S.P. Food insecurity is positively related to overweight in women. J. Nutr. 2001;131(6):1738–1745.
    1. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Food security in the U.S. 2014. Published April 30, (accessed July 25, 2014)
    1. Urbszat D., Herman C.P., Polivy J. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet: effects of anticipated deprivation on food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 2002;111(2):396.
    1. Waterlander W.E., de Haas W.E., van Amstel I. Energy density, energy costs and income - how are they related? Public Health Nutr. 2010;13(10):1599–1608.
    1. Webb P., Coates J., Frongillo E.A., Rogers B.L., Swindale A., Bilinsky P. Measuring household food insecurity: why it's so important and yet so difficult to do. J. Nutr. 2006;136(5):1404S–1408S.
    1. Wood D.K., Shultz J.A., Edlefsen M., Butkus S.N. Food coping strategies used by food pantry clients at different levels of household food security status. J. Hunger Environ. Nutr. 2007;1(3):45–68.
    1. Yaroch A.L., Pinard C.A. Are the hungry more at risk for eating calorie-dense nutrient-poor foods? Arch. Intern. Med. 2012;172(12):963–964.

Source: PubMed

Sponsorer og samarbejdspartnere

Medicinske tilstande

Narkotikainterventioner

3
Abonner