1. Piloting Home Produce Delivery to Improve Food Security, Budget, and Diet in Families with Children: A Mixed-Methods Study.
- Author
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Plencner LM, Nalubega Ross J, Hall M, Hurley EA, Raphael JL, De Miranda ED, and Colvin JD
- Abstract
Background: Few children in food insecure (FI) households meet dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetables ("produce"). Barriers include affordability, accessibility, and desirability. Home produce delivery may reduce FI, increase produce consumption, and decrease budget tradeoffs., Objective: Evaluate the acceptability and potential impact of delivering produce through home visiting programs on FI, diet, and budget tradeoffs., Methods: In this prospective pre/post mixed methods study, 51 parents engaged in home visiting programs were enrolled. Participants completed pre- and post-program surveys on FI (18-item Food Security Scale), produce consumption, and budget tradeoffs. Pre- and post-surveys were compared using McNemar's test and weighted kappas. Interview guides were based on Social Cognitive Theory and a previously published framework. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish; thematic analysis was completed., Results: Twenty-nine (56.9%) participants completed both surveys. Most were female (96.3%) and Hispanic (79.3%) (Table 1). Food security improved in the post-period, with more participants reporting high food security (pre: 6.9%, post: 31.0%) and fewer reporting very low food security (pre: 20.7%, post: 6.9%, p<0.01) (Table 2). Budgetary tradeoffs decreased in the post-program period (pre: 71.4%, post: 48.1%, p=0.03). Fifteen participants were interviewed. Themes included 1) saved money, 2) increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and 3) interest in future participation., Conclusion: This pilot study found that an intervention for delivery of produce through home visiting programs was acceptable to participants and resulted in potential improvements in FI and household budgets. This supports future studies to further explore the impact of this novel intervention., What's New: In this prospective mixed-methods pilot, home delivered produce was acceptable and feasible with potentially improved food security and household budgets; evidence of potential change in produce consumption was mixed. Changes in budget tradeoffs is a novel outcome in food programs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Laura Plencner, MD reports financial support was provided by No Kid Hungry. Laura Plencner, MD reports a relationship with No Kid Hungry that includes: consulting or advisory. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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