Poverty and Food Intake in Rural America: Diet quality is lower in Food Insecure Adults in the Mississippi Delta.

Authors: CHAMPAGNE, CATHERINE - PENNINGTON BIOMED RES CTR; CASEY, PATRICK - ACHRI; CONNELL, CAROL - UNIV SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI; STUFF, JANICE - CNRC BAYLOR COL OF MED; GOSSETT, JEFFERY - ACHRI-DAC; HARSHA, DAVID - PENNINGTON BIOMED RES CTR; McCabe Sellers, Beverly; ROBBINS, JAMES - ACHRI; SIMPSON, PIPPA - ACHRI-DAC; WEBER, JUDITH - ACH/PEDS/CARE; Bogle, Margaret

Submitted to: Journal Of The American Dietetic Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2007
Publication Date: 11/1/2007
Citation: Champagne, C.M., Casey, P.H., Connell, C.L., Stuff, J.E., Gossett, J.M., Harsha, D.W., McCabe Sellers, B.J., Robbins, J.M., Simpson, P.M., Weber, J.L., Bogle, M.L. 2007. Poverty and food intake in rural America: Diet quality is lower in food insecure adults in the Mississippi Delta. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 107(11):1886-1894.

Interpretive Summary: Food insecurity is associated with lower quality diets in the Lower Mississippi Delta population. Generally those who are food secure scored higher on the Healthy Eating Index that those who were food insecure. Food secure individuals achieved higher percentages of recommended nutrients than food insecure individuals, especially for vitamin A, copper, and zinc, and less so for vitamins C and E. In general we have found extremely low intakes of dietary fiber in this population as a whole. These findings point to a pressing need for nutrition interventions to improve dietary intake.

Technical Abstract: Objective: To determine whether there was an independent association between diet quality and household food insecurity using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), controlling for specific demographic variables in a high-risk population. Design: Random digit dialing telephone survey designed to collect data on food intake, household demographics, and food security status. Setting: A representative sample of adults who live in 36 counties in the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Subjects: 1607 adults, both white and black. Main Outcome Measures: Food security status and diet quality, including the HEI and DRI determinations from self-reported food intake (one day intake). Results: Food secure (FS) adults scored higher on HEI than Food Insecure (FI) adults, but the regression model showed no differences when multiple factors were included. FS individuals consistently achieved higher percentages of the DRI than FI individuals, with the greatest differences seen for vitamin A, copper, and zinc, and very little difference for vitamins C and E. Both populations consumed diets extremely low in fiber. Conclusions: Food insecurity is associated with lower quality diets in this population. These findings point to a pressing need for nutrition interventions to improve dietary intake.