Parent perceptions of changes in eating behavior during COVID-19 of school-aged children from Supplemental Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) eligible households in California

Suzanne Rauzon; Sridharshi C Hewawitharana; Erin E Esaryk; Hannah R Thompson; Lauren Whetstone; Ingrid Cordon; Gail M Woodward-Lopez

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102365

Parent perceptions of changes in eating behavior during COVID-19 of school-aged children from Supplemental Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) eligible households in California

Prev Med Rep. 2023 Aug 6:35:102365. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102365. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Suzanne Rauzon¹, Sridharshi C Hewawitharana¹, Erin E Esaryk¹, Hannah R Thompson^{1

2}, Lauren Whetstone³, Ingrid Cordon³, Gail M Woodward-Lopez¹

Affiliations

¹ Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1111 Franklin Street, Eleventh floor, Oakland, CA 94607, USA.
² School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA.
³ Research, Evaluation, and Strategic Alignment Section of the Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Branch 12(NEOPB), Center for Healthy Communities, California Department of Public Health, 1616 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA.

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the associations between parent-reported, perceptions of changes in school-aged children's (ages 5-18) school meal participation, household cooking, fast food consumption, dietary intake, and weight during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents with low-income and school-aged children (n = 1040) were enrolled using quota sampling to approximate the distribution of low-income households and race/ethnicity among California residents who completed an on-line questionnaire developed by the authors. Adjusted multinomial models examined associations between parent-reported changes in school meal participation and time spent cooking, with parent-reported changes in child diet and body weight during COVID-19 (from before March 2020 to January-March 2021). During the pandemic, decreased school meal participation was associated with decreased child's fast food intake (OR[95 %CI] = 1.47[1.04-2.07]); conversely, increased school meal participation was associated with increased child's fast food intake (OR[95 %CI] = 1.71[1.09-2.68]). Decreased cooking at home was associated with decreased fruit and vegetable intake (OR[95 %CI] = 2.71[1.62-4.53]), increased sugar-sweetened beverage intake (OR[95 %CI] = 3.83[2.16-6.81]), and increased fast food intake (OR[95 %CI] = 4.09[2.45-6.84]); while increased cooking at home was associated with increased fruit and vegetable (OR[95 %CI] = 2.26[1.59-3.20]), sugar-sweetened beverage (OR[95 %CI] = 1.88[1.20-2.94]), sweets (OR[95 %CI] = 1.46[1.02-2.10]), and salty snack food intake (OR[95 %CI] = 1.87[1.29-2.71]). These parent-reported perceived changes in meal sources during the pandemic for children from low-income California households, and the mixed results in their associations with changes in parent-reported child dietary intake, suggest the need for strengthening policies and programs to support both access to, and healthfulness of, meals from school and home during prolonged school closures.

Keywords: COVID-19; Children; Household cooking; Nutrition; School meals.