Abstract
BackgroundThe quality of most Americans’ diets is far from optimal. Given that many Americans consume a significant portion of calories in the home, intervening in this setting could be beneficial. However, the relationship between the home food environment and diet quality is not well understood. This study examined the relationship between diet quality at the individual level with home-level diet quality using an index that measures compliance with federal dietary guidance.MethodsThis was a cross sectional study that enrolled 97 African American and Hispanic/Latino low-income parent-child dyads. Diet quality at the individual level was assessed through two 24-h dietary recalls collected for parents and children, respectively. Diet quality at the home level was assessed with two home food inventories conducted in participants’ homes. Diet quality scores at the home and individual levels were computed by applying the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) to these data. Linear models adjusted for potential confounding factors were used to examine the relationship between diet quality at the home and individual levels.ResultsTotal HEI-2010 scores from parents and children’s diets were positively associated with HEI-2010 scores based on home food inventories (parent diet: β: 0.36, 95% CI: 012–0.60; child diet: 0.38 95% CI: 013–0.62). Positive associations were also observed between individual level and home level subcomponent HEI-2010 scores for total fruit (parent: 0.55 95% CI: 0.16–0.94; child: 0.49 95% CI: 0.03–0.94), whole fruit (parent only: 0.41 95% CI: 0.07–0.74), greens and beans (parent only: 0.39 95% CI: 0.05–0.74), and whole grain (children only: 0.33 95% CI: 0.04–0.63).ConclusionThis study demonstrated that individual level diet quality was positively associated with home-level diet quality. Findings from this study can help us to address modifiable targets of intervention in the home to improve diet quality.
Highlights
The quality of most Americans’ diets is far from optimal
Parent-child dyads were excluded if: 1) the child was not between 2 and 5 years of age, 2) parents or caregivers did not self-identify as African American/Black or Hispanic/Latino, 3) parent was not fluent in English or Spanish 4) child (2–5 years) did not live with the parent or caregiver regularly 5) the child had a disability or illness that significantly altered dietary intake and required a medically prescribed diet, 6) parent-child dyad would not be available during the month, 7) parent was pregnant past the first trimester
Thirty two percent of African American households shopped only once a month compared to 4.3% Hispanic/Latino households
Summary
The quality of most Americans’ diets is far from optimal. Given that many Americans consume a significant portion of calories in the home, intervening in this setting could be beneficial. While labor and time intensive, exhaustive home food inventories are made more feasible through barcode scanning [35,36,37] and can address some of the limitations found with checklists This method does not rely on self-report or require researchers to make assumptions about the home availability of foods since it assesses what foods are in the home rather than how well a household conforms to a checklist [35, 36]. This approach, in its comprehensiveness (i.e. all foods) and precision (i.e. specific foods, brands, amounts) offers a flexible approach for capturing any nutrition-related dimension of interest, including diet quality
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