title: Food insecurity and household eating patterns among vulnerable American-Indian families: associations with caregiver and food consumption characteristics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors associated with food insecurity and household eating patterns among American-Indian families with young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey among households with young children that were receiving emergency food services. We collected information on food insecurity levels, household eating patterns, experiences with commercial and community food sources and demographics, and used multivariate regression techniques to examine associations among these variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four Southwestern American-Indian reservation communities.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 425 parents/caregivers of young children completed the survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine per cent of children and 45 % of adults from households participating in the survey were classified as 'food insecure'. Larger household size was associated with increased food insecurity and worse eating patterns. Older respondents were more likely than younger respondents to have children with food insecurity (relative risk = 2·19, P < 0·001) and less likely to have healthy foods available at home (relative risk = 0·45, P < 0·01). Consumption of food from food banks, gas station/convenience stores or fast-food restaurants was not associated with food insecurity levels. Respondents with transportation barriers were 1·46 times more likely to be adult food insecure than respondents without transportation barriers (P < 0·001). High food costs were significantly associated with greater likelihoods of adult (relative risk = 1·47, P < 0·001) and child (relative risk = 1·65, P < 0·001) food insecurity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions for American-Indian communities must address challenges such as expense and limited transportation to accessing healthy food. Results indicate a need for services targeted to older caregivers and larger households. Implications for innovative approaches to promoting nutrition among American-Indian communities, including mobile groceries and community gardening programmes, are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 621 North Washington Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. bmullany@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mullany
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Neault
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsingine
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Powers
authors.forename: Ventura
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lovato
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clitso
authors.forename: Sheree
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Massey
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talgo
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Speakman
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001130:Arizona; D017028:Caregivers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009516:New Mexico; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010290:Parents; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires