Association of a traditional vs shared meal decision-making and preparation style with eating behavior of Hispanic women in San Diego County.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the influence of meal decision-making and preparation on Hispanic women's dietary practices.


METHODS
One-on-one structured interviews were conducted, assessing meal decision-making and preparation practices, barriers, and behavioral strategies to eating low-fat and high-fiber diets, fat and fiber intake, demographic, and other psychosocial factors.


METHODS
The study population included 357 Hispanic women living in the southern or central regions of San Diego County. Participants were recruited via random-digit dialing to a tailored nutrition communication intervention.


METHODS
Household decision-making style (alone vs with family) by household activity (decides meals, prepares meals, and decides snacks).


METHODS
Multiple logistic regressions were used to evaluate associations between the predictors and dependent variable. All models included adjustments for potential confounders, such as marital status, education, employment, age, and acculturation.


RESULTS
A positive statistical association between Hispanic women's acculturation level and shared decision-making style was found. Also, Hispanic women in shared decision-making households faced greater psychosocial barriers to healthful eating and reported less healthful eating compared with Hispanic women in traditional households. Women in shared decision-making households were more likely to eat at fast-food restaurants, less likely to engage in behavioral strategies promoting fiber consumption, eat more saturated fat, and encounter more barriers to reduce dietary fat as compared with Hispanic women in traditional households. Acculturation did not attenuate differences in psychosocial and dietary practices between shared decision-making and traditional households.


CONCLUSIONS
Study findings suggest intervention efforts should focus on different aspects of healthful eating among Hispanic women in shared-decision, compared with traditional, households.
Arredondo
Elva M
EM
San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 221, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. earredondo@projects.sdsu.edu
Elder
John P
JP
Ayala
Guadalupe X
GX
Slymen
Donald
D
Campbell
Nadia R
NR
D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D002140:California; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D017533:Marital Status; D011939:Mental Recall; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber