Objective: Determine whether macro- and micro-nutrient intake, energy intake, diet quality, adherence to recommended dietary intake, and psychosocial and behavioral factors are associated with household food security.
Design: Baseline data from in-person interviews and telephone-based, 24-hour dietary recall from women recruited to a diet and physical activity controlled trial.
Setting: Neighborhoods encompassing 18 urban census tracts in South Carolina.
Participants: Participants (n=202) were predominantly African American (87%), overweight or obese women aged 25 to 51 years with mean body mass index of 40.6±8.7.
Main outcome measures: Macro- and micro-nutrient intake, energy intake, diet quality, adherence to recommended dietary intake (via multi-pass, 24-h recall); diet-related self-efficacy and social support, healthy/lowfat and emotional eating behaviors, and depressive symptoms.
Results: Women in food-secure (FS) and food insecure (FI) households were not different on health and sociodemographic characteristics. Women in FI households had lower self-efficacy and healthy/low-fat eating behaviors, and higher emotional eating and depressive symptoms compared with women in FS households. The groups did not differ on social support. Significant dietary differences were few (FS>FI on protein and lean meat; FS<FI on carbohydrate intake). For 29 of 35 (74%) dietary intake recommendations, less than 75% of women in both groups met each recommendation.
Conclusions: While food security status was associated with diet-related psychosocial and behavioral factors, it was associated with few aspects of dietary intake. Dietary intake overall was poor. Participants were not meeting guidelines for a diet supportive of general health or weight loss and management, regardless of food security status.
Keywords: African American Women; Food Insecurity; Food Security; Poverty.