Food insecurity and food supplies in Latino households with young children.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between food insecurity and food supplies in Latino households.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey, conducted February to May 2001.


METHODS
Six California counties.


METHODS
Convenience sampling was used to recruit 274 low-income Latino families with preschool children from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Head Start, and other community-based organizations. Complete data were available for 256 families.


METHODS
Food security, household food scores.


METHODS
Pearson correlations, Kruskal-Wallis test, and logistics regression. Significance level at P <.05.


RESULTS
Controlling for maternal education, food insecurity over the past 3 months was associated with lower household food supplies: dairy, r = -.18, P <.01; fruit, r = -.36, P <.001; grains, r = -.27, P <.0001; meats, r = -.22, P <.001; snack foods, r = -.23, P <.001; and vegetables, r = -.29, P <.001.


CONCLUSIONS
In Latino households, greater food insecurity is associated with a lower variety of most foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. Future research in Latino households should explore the effects of seasonal food insecurity and household food shortages on food intake of individual household members, especially young children.
Kaiser
Lucia L
LL
University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare County, Tulare, California, USA. llkaiser@ucdavis.edu
Melgar-Quiñonez
Hugo
H
Townsend
Marilyn S
MS
Nicholson
Yvonne
Y
Fujii
Mary Lavender
ML
Martin
Anna C
AC
Lamp
Cathi L
CL
D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services; D005523:Food Supply; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007843:Latin America / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty