Household Food Insecurity and Dietary Intake among Mexican-American Women Participating in Federal Food Assistance Programs

Abstract

To explore the association between food insecurity and dietary intake among Mexican-American women after controlling for sociocultural and economic factors including participation in federal food assistance programs. Cross-sectional. Three cities in Texas. Seven hundred seven Mexican-American women (26-44 years). Demographics, anthropometrics, acculturation, and food security status were obtained using validated measures. Dietary intake was assessed by a 24-hour dietary food record. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between individual and household characteristics on food security status. One-way analysis of covariance tested the association between food security status and dietary intake after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, acculturation, body mass index, participation in federal food assistance programs, and energy intake. About 77% of food-insecure women participated in at least one federal food assistance program. Each additional child in the household increased the odds of being food insecure by 25%. A higher proportion of obese women was found in the food-insecure group. No significant differences in dietary intake were found by food security status. Food insecurity did not negatively influence dietary intake independently of women's participation in federal food assistance programs. Food security did not ensure consumption of nutritionally adequate foods. Educational and food assistance programs need to be optimized to facilitate enrollment and improve the nutritional status of this ethnic group, food secure or not.