title: Food Insecurity and Food Resource Utilization in an Urban Immigrant Community.
abstract: Risk and prevalence of food insecurity and use of food security resources are important but incompletely understood factors in immigrant health. Key informant interviews and a survey (N = 809) of housing units were conducted in a San Diego, California neighborhood with a high proportion of immigrant and low income families. The difference in food insecurity between immigrant and non-immigrant households was non-significant (20.1 vs. 15.7 %, p = n.s.), though immigrant families were more likely to use food security resources such as SNAP (32.7 vs. 22.9 %, p < .01) and food pantries (28.2 vs. 19.7 %, p < .001). Among immigrants, neither national origin nor years in the United States predicted food insecurity or use of most food security resources. In immigrant families, food insecurity often remains a challenge long after immigration, suggesting a potentially increasing need for food security resources as immigration into the United States continues.
authors.affiliation: Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, 650 Childs Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA. greenwa@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Howard P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.affiliation: , San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zajfen
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D004032:Diet; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Food insecurity; Immigration; Nutrition; Policy