title: Food management behaviours in food-insecure, lone mother-led families.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about how food is managed in households where food resources are scarce. In this study, the household food management behaviours utilized by food-insecure, lone mother-led families from Atlantic Canada were characterized, and relationships among these behaviours and diet quality were examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thematic analysis of 24 in-depth interviews from a larger study of mother-led, low-income families was integrated with sociodemographic characteristics, food-insecurity status, and four weekly 24-hour dietary recalls for all household members to yield a family behaviour score (FBS) as a summative measure of food management behaviours, and a healthy plate score (HPS) as a measure of diet quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five distinct food management behaviours were identified: authoritative, healthism, sharing, structured, and planning behaviours. An increase in the FBS was associated with a proportional increase in the HPS. Authoritative, healthism, and planning food management behaviours were the strongest predictors of the HPS for all household members (p<0.05). The structured management behaviour was related to the degree of food insecurity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FBS and HPS tools hold promise as a way to identify food-insecure families at risk of low diet quality. The next phase of this research will validate the use of these tools in the practice setting.
authors: Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
authors: S Meaghan
authors: SM
authors: Sim
authors: N Theresa
authors: NT
authors: Glanville
authors: Lynn
authors: L
authors: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D020954:Single-Parent Family; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult