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Title: FOOD ACCESS OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE FOODS OF OUR DELTA VALIDATION STUDY AND THE DELTA NUTRITION INTERVENTION RESEARCH INITITATIVE:THE EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHICS, FOOD SHOPPING PATTERNS, HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY, AND DIETARY INTAKE

Author
item GUILLOT, MELISSA - UNIV SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

Submitted to: University of Southern Mississippi Thesis
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2001
Publication Date: 12/1/2001
Citation: GUILLOT, M.C. FOOD ACCESS OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE FOODS OF OUR DELTA VALIDATION STUDY AND THE DELTA NUTRITION INTERVENTION RESEARCH INITITATIVE:THE EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHICS, FOOD SHOPPING PATTERNS, HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY, AND DIETARY INTAKE. University of Southern Mississippi Masters Thesis. 2001. 83 p.

Interpretive Summary: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between food access (or type of grocery store), food security (risk of hunger), and quality of food intake in a group of residents of three counties in the Lower Mississippi Delta of AR, LA, MS. Information collected in the Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI) Foods of Our Delta Validation Study was used. Transportation did not seem to be a problem even though some traveled a distance. However, participants shopped more frequently if the stores were close to their residence. Frequency of shopping differed by race, gender and household size, with men shopping more frequently than women. Those from larger households also shopped more frequently. Food insecurity seemed related to those shopping at smaller grocery stores or convenience stores. Food shopping patterns did not appear to affect quality of foods eaten in the household.

Technical Abstract: The primary goal of this study was to determine the relationships among demographics, food security and food shopping patterns in 257 residents of three counties in the Lower Mississippi Delta of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi surveyed in the FOODS Validation Study. Participants completed three interviews in which demographic data, dietary intakes, and the Food Availability, Shopping, and Opinion Questionnaire and the USDA Core Food Security Model were completed and obtained. Research findings in the study suggest that most food shopping patterns do not affect food access; however, store location affected food shopping frequency. The closer participants lived to the food store, the more frequently they shopped. Larger households, blacks, and females shopped less often than smaller households, whites, and males. The store type that the participant usually shopped at was significantly related to food security. Those who shopped in a neighborhood store tended to be more food insecure than those who shopped in a grocery store. In this study, research findings suggested that food shopping patterns were not related to dietary intake.