Abstract P244: Participation in a Community-based, Family-focused Lifestyle Intervention Improves the Home Food Environment: Athletes for Life Preliminary Findings

Abstract

It is known that availability of food in the home influences dietary behaviors; however, few studies have assessed the effects of lifestyle behavioral interventions on the home food environment (HFE). We hypothesized that participation in Athletes for Life (AFL), a family-oriented lifestyle intervention for cardiometabolic disease prevention, would result in favorable changes in the home food environment of families with children aged 6-11 years. AFL is a 12-week community-based, family-focused behavioral intervention delivered at a community center located in an ethnically-diverse, underserved community within a Southwestern metropolitan area. Participants attend 90-minute sessions, twice per week. For children, AFL includes diverse activities aimed at improving fitness and sport skills. Parents participate in a physical activity session for 45 minutes followed by a 45-minute behavior change program focusing on strategies for diet improvement through increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing sugar intake. Parent-child dyads (n=33) were randomized to an immediate AFL intervention or a wait-list control group. Of those, 26 consented to a home visit to assess the HFE and were included in this analysis (intervention n=13; control n=13). The HFE was assessed in both groups at baseline and again after 12 weeks using a modified version of the Home Food Inventory that focused on home availability and variety (measured as number of different items) of fruits, vegetables, and sugar-containing foods including sugar-sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, candy, and breakfast cereals. Intervention effects on home food availability were assessed using Poisson mixed model regressions controlling for days since the last food-shopping trip and household size. At baseline, intervention and control households had comparable home food environments. Relative to the control group, the intervention households had statistically greater increases in the number of vegetable items (+3.88±0.85 items vs. +0.08±0.63 items; p Time*Group =0.015) and WIC-approved breakfast cereal items (1.16±0.31 items vs. 0.00±0.28 items; p Time*Group =0.033). Changes related to home availability of fruit, prepared desserts, sugar sweetened beverages, candy, and non WIC-approved breakfast cereals were small and of comparable magnitude between groups (n.s.). These results suggest that AFL was successful in eliciting small but significant changes in the HFE, which could positively influence dietary intake among participants. Future assessments of how home food availability affects dietary intake and cardiometabolic disease risk are warranted.