Fruit and Vegetable Shopping Behavior and Intake among Low-Income Minority Households with Elementary-Aged Children
Brittni N. Metoyer,
Ru-Jye Chuang,
MinJae Lee,
Christine Markham,
Eric Brown,
Maha Almohamad,
Jayna M. Dave,
Shreela V. Sharma
Affiliations
Brittni N. Metoyer
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Ru-Jye Chuang
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
MinJae Lee
Department of Population and Data Sciences, Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
Christine Markham
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Eric Brown
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Maha Almohamad
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Jayna M. Dave
USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, 1100 Bates Ave, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Shreela V. Sharma
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Low-income children and families do not meet the recommendations for fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. This study aimed to assess the association between FV shopping behavior and child FV intake through a cross-sectional study design analyzing self-reported surveys (n = 6074) from adult-child dyads of Hispanic/Latino and African American participants enrolled in the Brighter Bites co-op program. Through quantitative mixed effects linear regression models, accounting for school-level clustering and adjusting for covariates, child FV intake was positively associated with shopping for FV at large chain grocery stores (p p p = 0.002), discount superstores (p p = 0.038), convenience stores (p = 0.022), ethnic markets (p = 0.002), farmers’ markets/co-op/school farm stands (p p = 0.009) among Hispanic/Latinos participants. Among African American participants, there was significant positive association between child FV intake and shopping for FV at natural/organic supermarkets (p p = 0.005), and convenience stores (p = 0.031). The relationship between location and frequency of shopping for FV and child FV intake varied between races. Further research is needed to better understand the influence of cultural and physical environmental factors. Nutrition education programs are vital to encouraging families to make healthier food choices and purchases to improve child FV consumption.
