Fruit and vegetable intake and home nutrition environment among low-income minority households with elementary-aged children

Authors: METOYER, BRITTNI - Louisiana Department Of Health And Hospitals; CHUANG, RU - University Of Texas Health Science Center; LEE, MINJAE - University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; MARKHAM, CHRISTINE - University Of Texas Health Science Center; BROWN, ERIC - University Of Texas Health Science Center; ALMOHAMAD, MAHA - University Of Texas Health Science Center; DAVE, JAYNA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); SHARMA, SHREELA - University Of Texas Health Science Center

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/30/2023
Publication Date: 4/10/2023
Citation: Metoyer, B.N., Chuang, R.J., Lee, M., Markham, C., Brown, E.L., Almohamad, M., Dave, J.M., Sharma, S.V. 2023. Fruit and vegetable intake and home nutrition environment among low-income minority households with elementary-aged children. Nutrients. 15(8). Article 1819. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15081819.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15081819

Interpretive Summary: Fruit and vegetables (FV) are vital to a healthy diet and reduce chronic disease risk and increase diet quality. Children in the US do not meet the recommended dietary guidelines for FV. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences have been shown to have an influence on child FV intake. This study examined the associations between parent and child FV intake and the home nutrition environment among Hispanic/Latino and African American families. Parent-child dyads enrolled in Brighter Bites, an evidence-based health promotion program, completed self-reported surveys in the Fall 2018. Increase in frequency of parent FV intake was significantly associated with an increase in child FV intake among Hispanic/Latinos and African-American. This association was slightly more pronounced for African-Americans than Hispanic/Latinos. Additionally, in Hispanic/Latino participants, significant positive associations were found between fruit as well as vegetables served at mealtimes >=3 times/week, family mealtimes 7 times/week, parent-child communication about healthy eating and nutrition at least sometimes during the past 6 months, and frequency of child FV intake. In African American participants, significant positive association was found in fruits served at mealtimes >=1 times/week, and vegetables served at mealtimes >=5 times/week. Meals cooked from scratch a few times a day/all the time was positively associated with frequency of child FV intake for both Hispanic/Latino and African American groups. The home nutrition environment was positively associated with child FV intake, and this association varied by race/ethnicity. Future programs and interventions should consider tailoring their messaging and strategies to low-income racial/ethnic groups independently.

Technical Abstract: Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences were shown to have an influence on child fruit and vegetable intake. This study examined the associations between parent and child fruit and vegetable intake and the home nutrition environment among Hispanic/Latino and African American families. Through a cross-sectional study design, self-reported surveys (n=6074) were obtained from adult–child dyad participants enrolled in Brighter Bites, an evidence-based health promotion program, in the fall of 2018. For every once/day increase in frequency of parent FV intake, there was an increase in child FV intake by 0.701 times/day (CI: 0.650, 0.751, p<0.001) and 0.916 times/day (CI: 0.762, 1.07; p<0.001) among Hispanic/Latinos and African Americans, respectively. In Hispanic/Latino participants, significant positive associations were found between fruits as well as vegetables served at mealtimes >=3 times/week (p<0.001), family mealtimes 7 times/week (p=0.018), parent–child communication about healthy eating and nutrition at least sometimes during the past 6 months (p<0.05), and frequency of child FV intake, after adjusting for covariates. In African American participants, a significant positive association was found in fruits served at mealtimes >=1 times/week (p<0.05), and vegetables served at mealtimes >=5 times/week (p<0.05). Meals cooked from scratch a few times a day/all the time were significantly positively associated with frequency of child FV intake for both Hispanic/Latino (p=0.017) and African American (p=0.007) groups. The relationship between home nutrition environment and child FV intake varied by race and ethnicity. Future programs should consider designing culturally tailored interventions to address racial/ethnic-specific influences that match the child's race, culture, and ethnicity.